Wings of Steel
by Cheloya
Summary: OLD. DISCONTINUED. Zircah Bladewing is the abandoned daughter of Zhaneh Bitterclaws. When Stormwing nations are summoned through the Barrier, how can she set things right before the Queen of Chaos destroys all the realms?
1. Prologue

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WINGS OF STEEL

Disclaimer: _The Immortals Quartet_, consisting of _Wild Magic, Wolf Speaker, The Emperor Mage_ and _Realms of the Gods_, and all the characters, concepts and storyline therein belong to Tamora Pierce. Zircah Bladewing, the extra bits, and any characters or concepts you've never heard of before (eg. Stuttering Birdtamer) belong to me. Or Wyrren.

A/N: This fic is dedicated to Wyrren Sarrasri, without whom I would never have re-read the Immortals Quartet and created Zircah. She's a wonderful Packsister, vastly amusing, the best beta reader an author could ask for... and the source of much of the entertainment you'll find in this fic. The things we came up with in Math, SOSE and RAP shall never be forgotten. At least not by me. ^^ So, mega-kudos to Wyrren, Go Read Her Stuff Now. Well. After you've read this, maybe. *grin*

Prologue: History of a Feathered Futureteller

Zircah's head was bowed in both sorrow and anger as she perched far away from the nation on a low branch. She had abandoned her eyrie earlier that day for this low perch. Here she would be safe from Jokhun and his new grovellers. At least for a while.

Her ice blue eyes were far away as she gritted silver teeth together to stave off her pain. Her jaw ached dully from hours of this, but still she clenched it mercilessly. All day she had pondered the reasoning behind this occurrence, because there was no way in the Realms of Chaos that Jokhun could have defeated her queen. All her life, Barzha and her mate had been two of the few who had been kind to her in her life. Even as she refused to admit to Barzha's death, the dark-haired Stormwing grieved.

Zircah Bladewing had crawled forth from her egg on her birth and immediately been lost to a Seeing. Zhaneh Bitterclaws, looking down on her, had thought that her only daughter was having some sort of fit until she saw Shakith's blind white eyes staring out from the eyes of the Stormwing chick. Then Zircah had foolishly spoken the words of her prophecy: "You shall die at the hands of a Mortal girl-child."

At first her words had created confusion and shock - a Mortal? Stormwings had not visited the Mortal Realms for three centuries. Then the anger burned fiercely in Zhaneh's eyes, and Zircah had been thrust roughly from the nest, out into the abyss that was Long-Drop Gorge. She hung in mid-air for a moment before she plummeted like so much dead flesh. Her wings were still wet when she plunged deep into the icy current of a river that flowed like lifeblood through the open wound in the Divine Realms that the gorge created. She had struggled, wasting her breath as she screamed with both her voice and her mind. The current was swift and treacherous, slamming her heavy body into rocks. Her wings lacerated her legs and stomach as she was tossed in the river's maw. Panic had risen to grip her heart as she thrashed in the freezing water, but the animal gods of the water took pity on the poor immortal that had fallen into their midst. She was pushed as gently as possible onto rocks that burned from their time baking in the sun, and left there.

When she had hacked up pints of water and bile, Zircah lay still and just breathed. Already a burning hatred had built, hatred of the one who had abandoned her so cruelly. It blazed through her veins, over her mangled, bleeding skin and between every feather of her broken wings. Her breathing harshened momentarily and suddenly all the pain was gone. She felt drained and dizzied. Her head had fallen forward onto the rock, and she had slept. It was almost nightfall when she awoke, and cooling fast. Zircah knew instinctively that she had to get into the air or be stranded here for the night. She was starving. Slowly, taking advice from voices she didn't recognise, she flapped her steel wings and rose into the cold, unworkable evening air.

Zircah had wandered the Divine Realms for twenty years, always staying as far away from her own species as she might. Her fear and loathing of her mother made her work to train herself to develop the fighting techniques she knew she would need to rise in a nation's hierarchy. She was taught all she knew of Stormwing politics at twenty years old by Weiryn, the god of the Hunt. Finally, when she deemed herself ready, she set off for where the god had told her Stormwings usually resided.

Avoiding Long-Drop Gorge as much as possible, Zircah flew straight for the Maze and the Stormwings that lived there. In the centre of the Maze was a great stone pillar they called the Stone Tree, and that was what their nation was named for. A while after Zircah had seen them, they appeared to notice her. Several flew nearer to investigate the youngster. Zircah had set her face in a bland expression and firmly ignored their jeers. Her hair fanned out behind her like black mist as she swept towards the eyrie at the summit of the Stone Tree - the eyrie of the queen.

Barzha Razorwing was four centuries old and very beautiful. Her dark hair and eyes glinted in the sunlight as Zircah swooped down to land at an unimposing distance from the edge of the eyrie. The queen of Stone Tree nation beckoned Zircah forwards, trying not to let her interest show.

"Which wind steered you, stranger?" Barzha inquired. A slightly younger Stormwing glided carefully down to stand beside her. Zircah noticed that he shifted his weight from one foot to the other frequently. _He has none of his queen's confidence._

"I'm searching for a nation who'll have me." Zircah replied bluntly. There was no point in skirting the issue. Barzha's silver teeth gleamed in a grin.

"You're young," she said. "Very young for leaving your nation."

"I have never had a nation." Zircah had replied, almost proud. "I was rejected from the nest of Zhaneh Bitterclaws on the minute of my birth. I have trained myself these past years. Now I search for a nation. Will you have me?"

Barzha glanced at the male beside her. His grey eyes gleamed fervently despite his apparent anxiety. "What do you offer?" he countered easily. Barzha's gaze snapped back to Zircah expectantly, and the younger Stormwing realised that the male must be Barzha's mate.

"I am unsure of how to measure myself against your standards. Perhaps it would be best if I showed you rather than told you of my status as a fighter. I am a Healer and a Seer. What else would you demand?" Zircah let herself smirk a little as Barzha's eyes glinted in amusement.

"Well, why not? Hebakh? I'm bored - I think I shall take her on myself. If you meet with my standards, I'm sure you'll get around to establishing a pecking order in no time." The queen declared. She raised her wings and shrieked loudly to get her nation's attention.

Zircah had expected that Barzha would inform her nation of the battle that was to take place. Instead, her mate opened his mouth and bawled the message so that Zircah wouldn't have been surprised if the dragons had heard it from across the Sea of Sand. Stormwings flew closer or further away until they hovered in a sphere around Barzha, Zircah, and Hebakh. The queen's consort glided off to take his place in the sphere as well, leaving Zircah alone with Barzha on the crown of the Stone Tree. Barzha grinned wickedly. "Now, let's see you dance, girly!"

Zircah had won. Her outlandish fighting style had stumped the queen, and she was welcomed with open wings. Zircah smirked a little sadly at the memory. She was the most skilled fighter in Stone Tree nation. Her self-training had paid off in ways she couldn't have imagined by giving her a unique style of flight and battling. Pair this with her strange magic and her unnerving attitude, and she was undefeated by anyone in the sky and on par with Hebakh Silverquill's status in the nation.

It had taken almost a month for Zircah to establish that she was, indeed, the best fighter. Each Stormwing that she defeated lost a feather to the deadly collection attached to her hair. Her more persistent opponents - there had only been two - had lost teeth, which were threaded onto a leather cord around her neck, and talons to the powerful young Stormwing. The talons dangled from her earlobes, bewitched so that they didn't rip through the more delicate flesh of her ears. She was a respected and feared adviser of her queen, a prime warrior in any battle to be fought.

__

But now... Zircah bowed her head and the feathers in it tinkled like Yamani wind chimes. Nearly eighty years later, Barzha was gone and so was Hebakh. Apparently bested by a weedy, six-century-old Stormwing by the name of Jokhun Foulreek - in the Mortal Realms. The emperor of a mortal country had broken the holding spells on the gates of the Divine Realms and summoned the Stormwings through it, forcing them into making a pact. Since then, Jokhun had grown over-confident and even more annoying than he had been prior to the emperor Ozorne. Zircah snorted contemptuously. There was simply no possible way Hebakh could have been beaten by Jokhun, let alone the queen of the nation. The rest of the nation had accepted it fairly easily, but Zircah could not. She had followed Barzha with the blind faith of friendship, and to have that ripped from her was like cutting off her wings.

"Are you going to sulk all day, Bladewing?"

Zircah's head snapped up, the feathers in her hair a-jangle. The speaker was Rikash Moonsword, a blonde male only a few years older than she was. She glared at him ferociously and he withdrew, but only slightly.

"You ought to pay your respects to the king, you know."

Anger consumed Zircah once more. "While I still mourn the old, Moonsword?" she snapped. Rikash sniggered and landed on the branch above her.

"He's giving everyone new posts."

Zircah remained silent, trying to control the urge to spit at him. Her eyes were narrowed dangerously as she glared stonily at nothing.

"I hear King Jokhun has _special_ duties he wants _you_ to perform." He said snidely, eyes gleaming with malicious laughter. Zircah bared her teeth in a snarl and let out a shriek of fury so loud that the entire nation stopped their movement and stared in the direction the sound had come from.

They were met with the sight of Zircah rising into the air, wingtips blazing with blood-red magic laced with gold. The feathers in her hair chimed death as she performed a quick circle to gather speed and then dove, talons extended, towards Rikash. The male's green eyes were wide with surprise and a touch of fear as he leapt into the air to avoid her. Zircah swooped past and raked her silver talons past his head, knocking him off balance. Rikash did a rather stupid twirl in mid-air as he tried to regain his balance and fly away at the same time, but Zircah was incensed. She let out another scream of challenge as she circled back to fire bolts of flame at him.

Rikash yelped as they singed his wings and flapped frantically to gain speed and altitude. As Zircah's shadow fell across his face he looked up in panic and gasped in pain as she descended to plunge her talons into his stomach. Her face was twisted with fury, hatred and a savage triumph as she shook him from side to side, ripping her clawed feet through his intestines, and discarded him over a long drop to broken rocks. She hovered briefly, watching him slam into the rocks with a feeling of satisfaction, and a smaller, more insidious twisting of guilt. Zircah flew back to her eyrie, and the entire nation stayed out of her way.

All but Jokhun, who came fluttering down into her eyrie full of outraged indignance. Zircah barely controlled the urge to push him off the edge.

"What do you think you're doing, Bladewing?" the pompous new monarch demanded. "You've just attacked my vassal."

Zircah coughed slightly. Rikash? A lord? "He annoyed me." She replied calmly, giving him a look that informed him he was annoying her, too. Jokhun appeared not to notice.

"Heal him at once." Jokhun ordered imperiously. Zircah's ice blue eyes widened.

"I can't." She said in clipped tones. She would use up too much of her own energy trying to heal all Rikash's wounds, and she didn't care to give that much of herself over to a pest of a male. Besides, he was probably dead already anyway.

"You can and you will. Heal him, or leave the nation." Jokhun replied waspishly. Zircah gritted her teeth. _I'm going to kill you_, she promised them both.

"Yes, my lord."

She spread her wings again, glaring at all who gave her even a sideways glance, and circled as slowly as possible. If Rikash hadn't died yet, she wanted to give him the time to do so properly. But as she landed, she noticed with some disappointment that he was breathing. Faintly, but his chest rose and fell with life. She scowled and summoned her Healing power, closing her eyes to concentrate.

Zircah closed the punctures in his lungs, leaving his broken ribs for the moment. She stilled the silver blood that gouted from his stomach and rejoined the skin there, smoothing it over until its tanned musculature lay undisturbed once more except for a scar across his chest she left to remind him of this battle. Next came the broken bones - his ribs, a wing and a clawed foot that had been crushed awkwardly as Rikash had plummeted to the ground. Finally, she brushed through his mind and rid him of the bruising in his brain. _Not that it would have affected your thought patterns much, Moonsword._ Almost exhausted, she Healed the grazes and bruises on his back and side from landing on the unforgiving stone.

Rikash's green eyes flickered open as she panted, swaying slightly from the magic she had used. His eyes widened in remembered panic and then calmed again slightly as he took in her condition. He scrambled awkwardly to his feet, bringing his wings up into a defensive position just in case.

Zircah saw this and laughed dismissively. "Fly away Moonsword. You have more sense than I gave you credit for since I met you." Her breath came harsh in her lungs, burning as it whistled through her throat. She laughed again, bitterly this time. "You are right to fear me..."

Rikash's eyes widened slightly as he took in the blazing rage and hatred in her eyes. She wanted vengeance. She wanted blood. Not his, but it hardly mattered - a Stormwing this desperately bloodthirsty would surely kill anyone in her way.

"You are so right to fear me." Zircah hissed, her lips curling back from her silver fangs in a feral smile. Rikash pushed off from the ground as fast as he was able to rejoin his flockmates in the skies. Within minutes he had regained composure and was bragging shamelessly.

It took Zircah several minutes to summon the energy to fly back to her eyrie, but Jokhun was demanding her presence at the crown of Stone Tree. When a snarl-haired female, Ludahn, came to tell her of this, she fixed the brunette with a withering stare. "If Jokhun wants to speak to me, he can wait or he can come to me." _I will waste no more of my energy on him._

Jokhun eventually made his way down to scold and prance before her. She tried to ignore it all, but knew that she must have worn an unimpressed sneer the entire time he spoke. Eventually he got to the point and declared her Champion of the Stone Tree Nation of Stormwings. Zircah could have laughed. As though she hadn't been.

*

A/N: Well, what do you think? This fic takes place throughout the Immortals Quartet, so you'll be seeing many familiar faces - although probably not portrayed in the same light. Please review and tell me what you think of "Wings of Steel". :)

~ Raven, a.k.a. Rose Flame


	2. Prescience

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WINGS OF STEEL

Disclaimer: Whatever you didn't see in "The Immortals", I won. Fair?

Chapter One: Prescience

Zircah skulked behind Jokhun and glared at all those around her. Stone Tree nation had gathered together with other Stormwing nations in order to be told they were to recapture a mortal mage. Zircah, of course, knew all about the mage and his escape already. She knew far too much, in fact, for her own liking.

The mortal had been taken prisoner in the fief under the command of one Lord Sinthya. He had been spying on the lord for King Jonathan and Queen Thayet, but they had caught him in the act. Apart from this, he was a despised enemy of the Emperor Ozorne of Carthak. Zircah gritted her teeth and closed her eyes to refrain from betraying her fury.

Ozorne was the mortal mage who had summoned the Stormwings forth from their home in the Divine Realms. He had commanded their forces without resistance from Jokhun, something Zircah thought incredibly suspicious. Since when were Stormwings mastered by any but themselves? She thought it was ridiculous. However, she had no wish to lose her standing in the nation, so she kept silent. After all, it would be inconveniently difficult for her to murder Jokhun if she were no longer a part of the nation. It would be messy. Zircah didn't like things to be messy.

She opened her eyes and scanned the crowd for her mother. Zhaneh Bitterclaws had been infuriated by the loss of what she claimed had been her most beautiful eye to nothing but a mortal chick. Zircah smirked. She had every right to be indignant - whoever expected such a thing to happen? No one but she, who had foreseen Zhaneh's death. It was still to come, and by the same mortal, she supposed. Idly, she hoped she'd meet this mortal chick some day.

Abruptly, Zhaneh opened her mouth and let out a shrill cry of "SHUT UP!" that echoed around their gathering place. Semi-clear silver fluid made one half of her face shine as it ran slowly from her ruined eye. Zhaneh looked as forbidding as Zircah as she began to tell her tale of the escape of the mage and the insolent pig who had put her eye out.

Zircah let her mind drift. She knew. The importance of the events had drawn her Seer's Eye to them like a bee to honey. She had been there as a black hawk careened drunkenly out the barred window of a holding cell, drugged and panicky. She had heard the furious, deep-throated yells of a man she presumed was Sinthya for Stormwings to get the mage back. She had Seen the chocolate-haired mortal chick through Zhaneh's eyes, and felt excruciating pain as an arrow was loosed, as though in slow motion, towards her own eye. After a period of blackness so dark she was afraid she must have died, she Saw Zhaneh's bitter return to Fief Sinthya and watched as the staff of the small castle were mercilessly punished for 'their' lax in security. She watched through the horrified eyes of a young servant woman as the throats of the servants' children were slit one after the other until the floor swam with crimson. She had drawn back as far as she could from the ever-growing red stain, but her sandals were not sufficient to protect her feet from the puddle. The servant's horror and disgust was outmatched only by Zircah's own - not at the tasteless violence, but at the Stormwings who watched and did nothing. Zircah knew from the red globe around Zhaneh Bitterclaws' wing tip that Ozorne watched and was pleased by the obedience of his followers. Zircah felt only disgust.

That disgust returned to her as she listened to Zhaneh re-tell the story. Even the bold queen did not dare to relate the child murdering to the rest of the nations. She would have been put to death for such a heinous crime, as would all her nation. _Perhaps she would be forgiven, _whispered an insidious voice in Zircah's mind. _After all, this is the Stormwing queen who abandoned her only child. Obviously others would believe she had lost her mind. They would pardon her on that count. But that would not avenge the children, nor will it bring back your queen._

Zircah tuned in again with a disinterested look at a speech-spell that Zhaneh had just activated. She watched boredly as Zhaneh spoke briefly with Ozorne and then closed down the gold-tinged crimson globe at her wing tip. She glanced about her and many of the Stormwings recoiled from the sight of her oozing eye.

"We will send the Spidrens after them. They were close by to where we saw the mortals camp. Send out a call for the Spidrens, and make sure they understand that they may kill all mortals but the mage." She smirked. "Him we want alive."

As hundred of Stormwings scattered back to their own nations, Zircah found she was as wearied as though she had been flying at her fastest all morning. As soon as she found a branch - as far away from any other Stormwings as possible - she closed her eyes and fell into a comatose slumber.

__

It was dark, but she could see everything almost perfectly. Her eyes were adapted for seeing edges she could catch a hold of, so everything she saw seemed outlined and indented and doubly shadowed. She crouched in the centre of her darkly glowing web and watched. She knew that the mortal child would come soon.

She watched as the girl emerged from one of the tents, carrying a bow. Smugly, she waited as Daine spoke to one of the sentries. He told her gently to stop worrying and go back to bed, but the girl stood staring at the woods with fear and confusion that was perfectly justified. As the mortal made her way slowly and hesitantly toward the trees, the watcher spun a loop of thread. It would take little effort to get rid of this mortal child, and then the camp would be unable to pinpoint the Spidren attack.

She almost hissed in annoyance as another mortal approached Daine.

She felt her vision double then separate entire from the Spidren's. The mortal girl sparkled amidst a tangle of copper fire, her bow held as though it was a natural extension of her body. The other was laced with violet light and had the face of the Goddess. As they moved closer to the Spidren's web, Zircah felt the Spidren tense. She sent out a shrieked call of warning she knew they wouldn't hear. Daine turned, and she knelt to examine a rabbit. She muttered something under her breath and hung her head. Zircah felt the Spidren prepare to attack, and shrieked again. The Spidren flung the loop of evilly glowing 'silk' at the girl, but her ears caught the rustle of its motion and she leapt back just in time. As the Spidren moved to attack them, the Daine's bow was up, an arrow to the string. It plunged through the Spidren's throat and everything went black.

She woke with a start and gasped for air, nearly toppling from her perch with the dizziness her sudden awakening had brought. The dim light of evening was oppressively bright to her eyes, and the sounds of Stormwings laughing and jeering at each other were more than she could bear at the time. She groaned, her head sinking to rest against the trunk of the tree. Seeing didn't usually bring such a heightening of senses, but she sincerely hoped they would go away soon, before she actually had to deal with any of her flockmates.

She kept her eyes closed until she felt an inrushing of wind. Then they snapped open and glared, despite the stabs of agony working their way through her skull. Zhaneh Bitterclaws sneered at her, and Zircah blinked.

"So. You're the little Seer-chick I threw from my nest all those years ago." Zircah felt mildly insulted at the disdainful look her mother was giving her. "I have to say I'm not at all impressed."

"Whatever gives you the impression I might care for your opinion, Bitterclaws?" Zircah returned, smirking at the queen's oozing eye socket and holding down the urge to be sick.

Zhaneh stared at her down her nose. "Do you still think that a mortal will be the death of _me,_ a Stormwing queen, Zircah?"

Zircah returned her icy gaze evenly and straightened. She tried not to look smug upon discovering she was taller than Zhaneh. "My prophecies are never wrong. You'll still be murdered by a mortal. And I predict it to be that same mortal chick who gave you that disgusting mess for an eye."

Zhaneh's teeth were bared in a nasty grin. "Not after tonight, hatchling. The only thing that ground-pounder, Daine, will be killing is the insects that eat of her poisonous flesh."

Zircah closed her eyes and shrugged, a knowing smile decorating her slender features. "Whatever you say, mother." The eyes flickered open briefly to deliver a smug sideways glance, and then closed again. Zhaneh raised a wing in anger and was roughly knocked from Zircah's perch. "I shouldn't try to attack, were I you. Those who attack their betters often wind up in a whole pile of Tauros dung."

Zhaneh screamed in rage, but flew away back to her own nation. Zircah sighed. It was a pity her mother was so pathetic. _Embarrassing, really, to be bested by your own daughter… though not as embarrassing as being bested by a mortal chick. It's a wonder she's still queen at all, really._

Zircah was hardly surprised when the Spidrens were found slain a week later. In fact, she was rather amused that mortals could have killed the trio. It was disgusting that immortals had become so weak and lax after only four centuries in the Divine Realms.

She sidled into place beside Rikash and maliciously jabbed him with her elbow-joint. The male wobbled and nearly fell off his branch. Zircah smiled serenely as Rikash glared. Jokhun looked back from his quiet conversation with Zhaneh to stare at them disapprovingly while the rest of their flock laughed hysterically. Rikash regained his balance and shoved her back - or tried to. Instead of resisting, she went with it, twirling gracefully around the branch and back to her perch. Rikash _did_ fall off the branch, this time. Stone Tree nation howled with laughter, and was soon joined by the eerie cackling of Zhaneh's flock. Zircah smirked as Rikash, scarlet with embarrassment under his protective layer of smudged dirt, came flapping back to his perch. He moved far enough over that she couldn't reach him without being obvious about it and then sat there sulking. Zircah nearly giggled, but restrained the urge at the last minute and managed to reign her amusement into a wide and purely evil grin.

Jokhun returned to glare at Zircah and beckoned his nation closer so that he wouldn't have to strain his vocal cords.

"Queen Zhaneh and I have decided to launch an attack on the mortals who have spurned us. We will destroy all mortals save those Emperor Ozorne wishes to use." Jokhun informed them coolly. Zircah couldn't resist.

"Aren't they going to be at the palace in Corus, King Jokhun?" she asked sweetly. "That will be well-defended. Are you certain that will be our best course of action?"

Jokhun gave her a withering look. "We will attack while they are not expecting it, in the small hours of the morning. It is always darkest before dawn." He added smugly.

__

Well, duh, thought Zircah. _That's because after dawn, the sun is up._

"Our nation is to attack the palace itself and recover the mage Numair Salmalín. Queen Zhaneh will attack the lower palace first in order to create a diversion and draw the palace guards to them."

__

And, no doubt, murder Veralidaine. Zircah frowned and pursed her lips in annoyance. _Honestly, can she be any less subtle?_

"My king, think you the mage Salmalín will not go to the lower palace?" she asked. "The mortals place strange importance in their kith. Salmalín is friends with the mortals that disfigured Bitterclaws and murdered the Spidrens we sent," she coughed slightly. "To avenge her."

Jokhun cocked his head to the side and considered briefly. "I do not believe it to be so. The mage will be fast asleep when we come for him. Our attack will not rouse him, nor many other mortal nobles that reside in the palace walls. It will be a thing of simplicity to recapture Salmalín."

Zircah nodded stiffly. _Sure, sure. Whatever you say, my king,_ she thought scornfully. "It will surely be as you say, my king." She said aloud. Rikash, despite his sullen pouting, raised an eyebrow at her. When Jokhun shifted his attention elsewhere, she shot a sideways glance at the blonde Stormwing. He immediately looked away and sulked again. Zircah shook her head and stifled the urge to smile.

__

Well at least somebody realises that I'm up to something. Only think how disappointed I'd be if only I were to know, she reflected with a smirk.

Jokhun dismissed them shortly after. When the sun set they would fly for Corus and launch their attack on the palace of King Jonathan.

A/N: Thankyou to everyone for your reviews! I hope to hear from more than Stormwing fans reading this fic. :)


	3. Assault On Corus

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WINGS OF STEEL

Dedicated to Wyrren Sarrasri

Chapter Two: Assault on Corus

Stone Tree nation lurked fifteen miles away from King Jonathan's palace in Corus. Zircah had insisted that, were they any closer, the mortal chick - _Veralidaine_, whispered the binding spell in her mind - would sense them coming. Jokhun had finally relented and allowed this in order to be sure their plan would succeed. They were nested away from roads in the centre of an expansive wood, completely silent.

This was a huge change for Zircah's nation - usually the dark-haired Stormwing had to put up with the shrieks and inane babble of her flock. Now that they were being quiet, she had the chance to open her mind and listen to the minds of others around her.

She could sense eager anticipation and excitement around her; all the Stormwings were quivering at the thought of a battle. She could well understand this - they hadn't feasted in centuries, not properly. She, too, was starving, and the ribs showing through the flesh of her muscular stomach were testimony to this.

She stretched her mind out to tentatively sample the emotions of Jokhun. He was smug and arrogant, certain he would win. However, underneath the initial confidence was an insidious, icy trickle of fear. Zircah felt a smirk tugging at her lips and allowed it out to show her satisfaction. Jokhun was afraid.

She moved on until she found another mind she recognised as Rikash. He was glowering - _Still? Talk about grudges..._ Zircah thought, shaking her head - and bating almost nervously. She could feel his anxiety - he wanted this to work. He wanted to fight and win even more favour with his new king. At this thought, a thin sadness crept through his mind. Zircah frowned. Rikash, in mourning for Barzha and Hebakh? _It seems he is more loyal to them than I suspected from his recent actions. Interesting... Moonsword, you may impress me, yet._

In the darkness, she reached her mind out to speak with the night's animals. She found none near Stone Tree's perch - they had all fled the reek of death that Stormwings brought with them. Zircah wrinkled her nose in distaste. She didn't like it either, and so took care to bathe as often as possible. She was probably the only Stormwing who bothered. But then, she reflected, she was the only Stormwing to have been raised by Weiryn - and, just prior to the summoning of Stormwings, his mate, a new goddess they called the Green Lady.

With her ears and her mind she heard a pack of wolves singing. She flowed over them and knew the joy of singing in a pack. It was not the first time she had felt alone since the deaths of Hebakh and Barzha, but it was the first time she felt like crying. Instead, she howled it out in a wild, despairing song of her own. The wolves fell suddenly silent, then abruptly howled the loneliness of losing a pack member. Zircah felt a little better when she came back to herself later in the night, when the wolves were hunting and the Stormwings were preparing to take flight and begin their attack on the palace.

Zircah shook out her wings in a rattling death beat and took to the sky with her nation. The feathers that adorned her hair tinkled softly in the air-flow, and her talon earrings seemed almost to glow, despite the moonless night. She smiled. It was perfect weather for such an attack. The sky was as dark and forbidding as the deepest, stillest waters of a lake, and without the moon their reflective wings would not attract attention.

She could sense from up ahead that Queen Zhaneh was nearly prepared to attack. She felt the chill fingers of foreboding run down her spine - they would arrive too early, and aid would not have gone to the lower palace yet. She knew it would happen, and yet she could not make herself speak. So she glided in the cold air of the night, and was very surprised when a powerful call echoed through her mind for help. She felt compelled to follow it, but resisted. She saw birds startle from trees and dart towards the sound. _It came from the palace..._

Zircah shrieked a war-cry as they came over the upper palace and dove on an unsuspecting guard. Rather than kill him, she picked him up and carried him in her talons so that if there were any archers about, they would not shoot her for fear of killing the flailing, screaming man she held in her talons.

The downside was, of course, that she couldn't bring her clawed feet to bear on any potential enemy. Scowling, she hovered, raised both wings and gathered herself to release bolts of magic at the guards that were running towards (and away from) the newly arrived 'demon birds'.

__

We've been gone from this realm so long that none remember what we are or what purpose we serve! Zircah thought in shock. Then fury seeped into her veins and with a scream of effort, she unleashed her glowing green magic to stab down at the ground-pounders in bolts that were like falling swords made of lightning.

She almost fell out of the air when bright white magic entwined with deep blue magefire to shield the archers and repel her magic (and the magic of other Stormwings) back at the skies. Her own bolts went wild to char Stormwings who were attempting to attack with their talons and wings. The white and blue magic flared again and Zircah was nearly deafened with a roar of discontent from within her mind. She shrieked and back-tracked frantically.

"Retreat!" She screamed to Jokhun, but the king of Stone Tree nation had already seen that they could not possibly win against King Jonathan and the Dominion Jewel. The oppressively powerful roar in her mind had been the consciousness of the land itself as it tried to repel the invaders. A savage wind had whipped up, one that required all Zircah's skill to stay aloft on - it was cold, but vicious, offering no lift to the Stormwings. All of its currents led to the ground, so the winged immortals were forced to battle every gust to stay in the air. Zircah gritted her teeth in an angry snarl and dropped the man in her claws. He was too heavy for her to deal with in this wind.

Jokhun roared to retreat and as one the flock wheeled to struggle away through the wind. They made it back to the forest they had been nesting in and Zircah immediately collapsed onto a thick branch, exhausted and still starving. There had not been enough casualties for the Stormwings to feed, or even to sate their thirst. She scowled. They had been cheated out of their meal and their captive by a stupid mortal with a pretty stone. _Great. There's one for the books - Stone Tree nation, brought down by a pack of dumb ground-pounders and a big lump of rock._

She tried to concentrate on what was going on around her. Jokhun was speaking quietly but urgently into a globe of red magic in his talon. Zhaneh's voice emanated from the magic.

"Salmalín wasn't even at the palace, then! He arrived just as that stupid mortal with the jewel did, but you didn't see him? Our plan was foiled all along! Bah!"

She spoke harshly in her native tongue, calling her nation to her and then cutting off the speech-spell. Jokhun's ruddy face was dark with anger. Zircah almost felt slightly nervous as he glared at her as though it was all her fault. Almost.

"Bladewing. Your services are required." He said shortly, grumpily, as though he were an old man deprived of a game of chess. "Heal those who are injured."

Zircah's eyes widened and she stared at him. "Do you not understand? I - can't - Heal - that - many - Stormwings. I just can't! My magic relies on my energy to Heal. I can only Heal a little at a time!" she raged, furious that he would even suggest such a thing when she was so tired.

"Do it, Bladewing." The king's voice was cold. Zircah's lips curled back in a disgusted sneer as she whirled on her branch and took a look around her.

Everywhere, silver blood stained the wood of the trees. Stormwings were tiredly settling in to roost, shifting their weight awkwardly to compensate for injuries. Her conscience set in - she couldn't just _leave_ them all like that.

With a sigh, she set to work, repairing burned skin and arrow wounds. Several of her flockmates had taken arrows through their shoulders or stomachs, and some had broken ribs or feet from awkward impacts with their own kind as the Dominion Jewel's wind had knocked them of-course. Finally most were healed except for minor scratches.

Rikash approached her low branch half-heartedly with an arrow in his collar-bone and burns all down his right side. He was the last. Blankly, Zircah stared at the burns before wearily working her magic on his flesh to Heal them. She blinked blearily at the arrow, grabbed it with her teeth, and yanked. She would later reflect, when she was trying to get the other immortal's blood from her hair, that it was probably not the best way she could have removed the arrow. Silver blood sprayed out all over them both as Rikash yelled, and then Zircah was fusing skin and arteries together again. When she was finished, her head nodded - she was ready to drop off her perch with exhaustion.

"If I ever have to Heal you again, Moonsword, you'll be... really... _really_... sorry..." She stated hazily, and then slumped to one side against the trunk in a dead faint.

She could hear muttering.

"...don't know _why_ I have to stay here and guard you, Bladewing. The gods know you can bloody well fend for yourself, I don't see why I have to sit around and _baby-sit_ you. It's disgusting. I'm going to tell everyone that you drool while you're sleeping, did you know that? And that you snore. You just _wait_ until you wake up and we get back to the Copper Isles..."

Zircah let out a slight groan as she opened her eyes, and the voice stopped abruptly. Her head pounded as she struggled to regain her balance, and then gave up and relaxed against the tree.

"Do you always babble when you think you're alone, Moonsword?" She asked, vaguely interested in just how crazy the foolish male really was. Her words came out slightly slurred, as though she were a mortal who had drunk too much mead, and there was a lengthy pause before Rikash understood and answered with a snort and a "Hmph."

Zircah let her eyes focus slowly, and then rocked back onto both feet. She winced - she probably had bark patterns all up the side of her face, and down along her chest. Her wings ached from being held so awkwardly while she slept, and her left foot was sore from being the only one she had leaned on for the time she slept.

"Where the hell is the nation?" She demanded, blinking at the empty trees. She reached out her awareness of creatures, but the only Stormwing she could sense was Rikash.

"On the Copper Isles, where _I'd_ be if it weren't for Jokhun ordering me to be a babysitter." Rikash said darkly. "You've been asleep for nearly two days."

"Really?" Zircah asked, ice blue eyes wide with the interest that comes of being too dazed to notice what's happening. "That has to be a record of some kind." She yawned. "Hope you kept yourself entertained." She added, unrepentant.

"Oh, yes." Rikash drawled. "It was marvellous. First I played 'Stare At The Sun Until Your Eyes Hurt', and then 'Watch Grass Grow'. And then I decided it might be nice to carve a design into a tree - so I did, it's right over there. And then I got rather bored and sat here and whinged."

"Yes, I woke up towards the end of that." Zircah interrupted, leaning forward slightly to see what sort of horrors Rikash had engraved on some poor unsuspecting elm. She was rather surprised to see a very well-drawn wing etched into the trunk of a thick, dark-wooded tree, and then saddened by a near-perfect portrait of Barzha and Hebakh. She stared at the tribute for a moment, dark brows knit over eyes filled with sorrow, and then gathered herself. "You're quite the little artist, pretty-boy."

Rikash scowled. "I take it this means you're well enough to fly?" He asked, almost hopefully. Zircah shrugged. She took off into the air and hovered for a moment to get her bearings. Then the two took flight for the Copper Isles, where the rest of Stone Tree nation waited.

*

A/N: ^^ I hope you guys are enjoying reading this as much as I love writing it... I had to wait nearly a year and a half before I could write it, because I had so much else on my plate. *grin* I'm so glad I can start again!


	4. The Dragon And The Kraken

Chapter Three: The Dragon and the Kraken

As soon as the previous sentries had returned, Zircah leaped into the sky to set out for her own watch. Stone Tree nation was roosted on one of the smaller Copper Isles, the province of a lord by the name of Mahil Eddace. Eddace, an ally of Carthak, had ordered the Stormwings to keep a watch on the Tortallan coast, not only for Tortallan ships but for the queen and her Rider groups and trainees. The Stormwings were willing - that group of mortals had beaten them and they wanted to repay that debt.

When she was a little over eight miles out from the Buzzard Rocks, Zircah circled to gain height and hovered in the midst of a convenient cloudbank. Not exactly the best camouflage in the world, but it was as good as air-camouflage got. _Unless, of course, I feel like painting myself blue._

The day was fine and hot - she had no need of her magic in order to hover in the one place. Her wings fanned back and forth briskly on the pillars of hot air that rose, even from the water, to keep her aloft.

She kept her eyes trained upon the shore. Behind a hundred yards of trees and sand dunes, there was a trail that ran south. That was the trail the Riders would be following, she was certain. She couldn't believe all the time they were putting into this. Surely it would be much simpler to attack and take Thayet hostage while she was on the road, rather than go to all this extra effort of waiting to take the castle, Pirate's Swoop, further south. _I suppose Eddace wants the children, as well. _She scowled at this and reached out with her mind for the shore.

She was very surprised to find a pair of griffins and their cubs nearby. Steeling herself, she called to them.

__

Sister griffin, will you not speak with me?

A startled mind-squawk rose in Zircah's mind and a large silver-grey female griffin lifted into the air.

__

Eater, did you call?

I did, wing-sister.

Never have I met with an Eater who speaks the tongue of Beasts. The griffin was suspicious.

__

I know only of myself, wing-sister. What news? Are your cubs healthy? Zircah asked, hoping to elicit some information from the other immortal.

__

There are mortals near our nest. We have warned them to keep far away from our cubs. They will not be taken for human shields.

Warned? Do they understand you as I do?

No. The griffin snorted. _Only message they understand is fear - they have fled to a stone house. They will not return soon._

Zircah smiled. _I hope not, wing-sister. Tell me, have you seen a company of mortals with ponies? Some have magic._ She briefly flared her own to make her meaning clear.

__

No. Only those from the mortal den.

Will you tell me if you see them? I will be on the islands with the other Eaters. Send out a call if you see them, and I will hear you.

The griffin was puzzled but agreed. _I shall. Farewell, Eater._

My name is Zircah. The dark-haired Stormwing offered.

__

I am known as Sleet. The griffin pawed at the air and circled back towards land. _I will call if these mortals you seek pass._

My thanks, wing-sister Sleet.

Sleet glided back to her eyrie, leaving Zircah alone with her boredom. So, the Riders had not reached this part of the coast yet? They could not be far off. 

However, at the end of her shift there was still no sign of them. Zircah reached out with her magic, wondering what could possibly take so long. The vision struck her so suddenly, she barely had time to realise she was falling.

__

Two half globes, one of air, one of water. Below the water lurked a dark power. She could feel it searching for her, but its reach was limited to below the waves - in the air, she was safe. Then another shape that blazed with the light of the Gift descended upon her from above, She screamed and dodged, but the light streaked past, blazing with righteous anger, and crashed into the depths. The creature of light gave the darkness the extra reach it needed. It extended a slow, deliberate tendril of blackness that latched onto her throat and tightened...

Zircah's eyes snapped back into focus and she gasped for air. The world swam before her eyes as though she watched from behind steamed glass. A rippling face came into view.

"Bladewing, earth to Bladewing. Come in Bladewing."

Zircah yelped in shock and reeled backwards, panicked. She swung her bladed wings wildly and Rikash ducked and back up.

"It seems every time I run into you you're asleep or ill, Bladewing. Calm down." His cheerful calm was too much for Zircah.

"What are you _doing,_ you dolt, you almost _killed_ me!" She shrieked, hysterical. "Don't you _know_ not to wake a Seer?"

Rikash scowled. "I didn't, Bladewing. Jokhun-"

"_Fuck Jokhun!_"

Rikash sighed, keeping his eyes trained upon the shore. "Bladewing, you've been out here for hours. It's almost the end of _my_ watch, now. Why don't we just fly back to the Copper Isles and you can tell King Jokhun all about what you just Saw." His mouth twisted wryly. "Although you may wish to leave out the part where you scream profanity at him."

His voice was oddly soothing, and Zircah's panic subsided. She frowned thoughtfully and bowed her head as she hovered a little way behind him. Slowly her mind wandered through the vision.

"A dragon," she muttered softly to herself. "A dragon and a... a kraken? And when... when the dragon dies, the kraken will rise up and slaughter us. Yes. But... what dragon? What kraken? What can they symbolise...?" She gave a snort of irritation that made Rikash turn to look at her. She shook her head, lips pursed. "Perhaps I _will_ relate this vision to Jokhun. Let him make of it what he will - I certainly can't make it out. Perhaps he knows of a dragon and a kraken."

"Uh. Right." Rikash raised an eyebrow and shrugged. "Well, that's my watch. Stay out here if you want, but keep in mind that there won't be anyone to see you fall until Qur'an gets here. And he's no great magician when it comes to hovering spells." He turned and started to flap back towards the Copper Isles.

Zircah came after him, blue eyes wide and disbelieving. _Is he implying that he saved me? What in the name of the Graveyard Hag...?_ She sighed in annoyance. Why couldn't people just stay the same as they had been all her life? Everything was changing, and it made her doubt her own opinions.

When they reached the eyries, Zircah held in a grimace. It appeared that Jokhun was officially Not Happy, and it was her fault. _Damn._

"Bladewing!" Jokhun snarled. "Where in the name of the Black God were _you_ for the last twelve hours?"

Zircah resisted the urge to say something snide and answered truthfully. "At my post, my king."

"Your shift lasts only six hours, Bladewing, then it was Lord Rikash's turn." Jokhun pointed out with a glare.

__

You've obviously decided to put your intelligent hat on today, Foulreek. "Yes, my king. I Saw towards the end of my shift, and the trance lasted for... a long time. My apologies."

Jokhun's expression softened slightly. "And what did you See?"

Zircah took a deep breath. "I Saw... water and air, at first. Below the water there was a kraken. He reached for us to destroy us but he could not reach past the water's surface. Then a dragon died and crashed into the water, and the kraken's reach was extended. He destroyed us."

Jokhun nodded thoughtfully. "Do you know what it means?"

"I can think of nothing that it relates to, my king." Zircah said stonily.

"What sort of Seer are you?" Jokhun's tone was scornful. "You can't even make sense of your own prophecies!"

Zircah resisted the sudden strong urge to decapitate him and rule the flock herself. Instead she held her tongue and allowed her rage to build behind her eyes until her powers were fuelled by it.

"If you have nothing further to report, then you're dismissed." Jokhun waved a wing condescendingly. "I shouldn't have expected any more from a female."

The Stormwings that were standing behind Jokhun backed away from their king. He was clearly crazy if he was insulting Zircah so readily - they had no wish to be in the firing line. But to their surprise, Zircah closed her eyes, took several calming breaths, and flew off to her own eyrie, out of the king's sight.

Rikash, in his own eyrie, watched her land with apprehension. Even without the magic that allowed Zircah to sense emotions, he could feel the rage rippling off her. He stared as she raised her wings as though she were summoning something.

A ball of swirling scarlet and black magic appeared before her, twisting like a whirlwind. He could hear the rushing of its magic from where he sat.

Slowly, from the talons up, a miniature of Jokhun formed. He looked both smug and imperious as he said, "I shouldn't have expected any more from a female."

Zircah's face twisted with hatred, and she brought her wings closer together. The copy of Jokhun writhed and gasped for air as Zircah determinedly compacted the space he was allowed.

Then the copy began to scream and scream in a horrifying shrill voice. Rikash shrank back from the edge of his nest to try to escape the sound, but despite its low volume it carried to him. He shuddered convulsively as Zircah slowly and deliberately crushed the miniature Jokhun, watching with a sort of fascinated terror as the screaming, writhing copy was destroyed. His green eyes were full of fear of Zircah and her magic. He knew she hated him as much.

He hunkered down in his eyrie and shivered. It had been bad enough watching Jokhun's copy die. It would have terrified him even more had the shrieking, agonised voice been his own.

In the wind and the rain of a summer storm, Zircah dispelled the magical corpse of Jokhun's copy with a satisfied smile that bared all of her silver teeth. _Soon,_ she promised it as it dissolved. _Soon I will do the same to you, Jokhun Foulreek._ Lightning flashed, illuminating the skies, and a sentry winged his way back to the Copper Isles. The mortals had found Pirate's Swoop.

***

A/N: I know Ozorne does this to Numair in _The Emperor Mage_, but I really couldn't think of any other way to show just how pissed Zircah was. ^^; Sorry for the lack of creativity, guys. Please review!


	5. Brooding

Chapter Four: Brooding

Zircah circled the barges as she watched the fog that preceded them. She didn't like it - it made her hair stand on end, for all that it was meant for the enemy mortals. It looked unnatural, too - she couldn't understand why the human mages from Carthak hadn't bothered to make it look more realistic, or to make it move faster rather than with the slow pace of the war barges. She sighed as she hovered. This was taking too long.

Below her stretched the forces of Mahil Eddace - five galleys and seven smaller, swifter craft. All bristled with archers and other weaponry. _Not that they'll be able to do anything until we've taken Pirate's Swoop_, Zircah scoffed. Also among the fleet were four Carthaki war barges, loaded with ammunition for their catapults. She smiled grimly. This would be a battle to remember.

She knew that foot-soldiers had surrounded the Swoop during the night, and that she was supposed to hang back with an invisibility spell, but she was worried. She still hadn't worked out the meaning of the dragon and the kraken, but she was certain that what she had Seen pertained to this battle. As they drew closer to the Swoop, she felt the tingle that signified another member of the People and flapped away to the back of Stone Tree nation. She didn't want the People to alert Veralidaine Sarrasri. Zhaneh's incantation had burned the girl's face and name into the mind of every Stormwing alive. Zircah could no more forget it than she could forget which way was up.

Her brows were slanted in a concerned frown, her full lips frozen in a perturbed grimace of discontent. It was unusual for her to show so much emotion, but she couldn't help it. She kept her gaze down until they were warned to activate their invisibility charms, and then hovered while she muttered the spell under her breath. She rolled her eyes as she saw several Stormwings struggling with the spell, and flapped hard to gain some height so that she wouldn't run into anyone who thought moving fast while invisible was a good thing.

She Scoped ahead to see the fog dissipate and smiled as she spotted Veralidaine. The mortal girl was on one of the towers, gazing down in shock at the fleet that had been sent to destroy her. Zircah grinned despite herself. It was nice to know that Stormwings could still elicit the old response in their mortal prey.

One Stormwing flickered out of invisibility and pushed out ahead. She frowned as she recognised him - Nashua was one of the more important Stormwings from Zhaneh's nation. He was obviously going to be the messenger to Pirate's Swoop. The corner of her mouth twitched upwards briefly as she saw bows rise all along the castle's walls. _So, that's her range, is it? That's not too bad, for a human._

Nashua landed on a galley to retrieve a scroll and a white flag. Zircah snorted at the symbol of peace and watched as a dozen archers, Veralidaine included, locked the Stormwing into their sights. Nashua tossed the scroll in front of a brown-haired man - the baron of Pirate's Swoop - and waited as he picked it up and read it aloud to those around him. The baron's face hardened and he spat at Nashua. The male Stormwing's glee was apparent even from this distance as he flapped back towards the invisible flocks.

Zircah felt rather than saw the osprey launch an attack on the unsuspecting Nashua. She let out a snigger as the male flailed in mid-air and shrieked rather girlishly. The mages on the ships below them spread their arms and a wide golden gate opened. More Stormwings poured from the opening in a torrent of silver wings and shrieks. For a moment, there was a scarlet something in the gateway, but then it was gone.

Zircah felt the tug of another's mind - like the People, but not - and her eyes widened as the osprey broke off his attack to go back to Veralidaine. She stared at the mortal in surprise. _Does she... can she... I had no idea we were dealing with another who could speak the tongue of Beasts._

She released her invisibility along with the rest of the Stormwings in a great blaze of gold fire, putting on speed to attack the Swoop. Calling upon her Stormwing powers, she blazed forward and bore down on the mortals with a wave of Fear. They cowered from the sudden onslaught of ice-cold emotion and Zircah shrieked a war-cry as she swooped over the archers, using all her speed and agility to stay clear of arrows.

Nashua, not twenty feet from her, dropped as an arrow went straight through him. She tried not to poke her tongue out at him as he went down. _Serves you right, girly bird._ Zircah thought smugly as she released a wave of crimson fire at the Swoop.

She felt a gap in Veralidaine's magic like a sudden breeze on a still day, and hundreds of birds streamed from the woods behind the castle. They flew at the Stormwings with shrill cries that hurt her ears and began to swarm around as many as possible, blinding and deafening them. Zircah slammed into those that came near her with all the force of her wild magic and screamed with it at others. _Leave them! Leave them be! They'll kill you!_

She could hear Veralidaine screaming the same thing, but didn't pause to wonder how. The birds ignored them both, but stayed away from Zircah in response to her frantic cries. They knew she was People, now, and they wouldn't harm her unless she forced them to.

It took about three hours before the Stormwings became bored of the battle. Zircah glided serenely around to the woods on the opposite side of the Swoop and disembowelled a corpse with her talons. All around her, her kind enjoyed the carnage, using their magic to amuse themselves by making the corpses dance. Zircah herself ate her fill for the first time in months and then flew a mile away to the ocean to wash the blood from her skin. She didn't want the metallic odour of blood clinging to her along with the usual Stormwing scent of rotting flesh. When she returned to the skies, she was clean and fresh, her hair drying in the wind behind her.

She stopped abruptly as she heard soaring notes in her mind. _A dragon? What's a dragon doing here?_ She watched a ripple of magic descend on Pirate's Swoop and stared as a dragon appeared. She was small for her kind, but still very impressive as her scales shone with her fury. Zircah could hear her from where she hovered:

__

- Kidnappers! Filthy kidnappers! Rend them, take the raven-haired one to a cage on the ships! Bring me here? You will send me home with your human tricks! -

Zircah's eyes widened. She thought that the mortals of the castle had brought her here? She looked at the red robed mages on the galleys. _You've tricked her... you've lied to a dragon. You fools!_

And as the great dragon landed on the deck, Zircah felt the tingle of wild magic at the edge of her mind and knew that the dragon was hurt. Not the dragon. _Inside_ the dragon. And the young mortal, Veralidaine, was _Healing_ her. Zircah let out a squeak of surprise as the dragon let out a melodious roar and took off into the air again, disappearing under her magical cloaking spell. As she came within a hundred feet of Zircah, the Stormwing was flooded with information as she attempted to speak with the dragon. Then Flamewing was gone and Zircah's eyes widened until they were like to saucers.

"Holy Mithros, she's _pregnant!_" She yelled in excitement, and took off after the departing dragon. Immortal births were always difficult - that was why all had been astonished when Zhaneh had thrown Zircah from her eyrie. Stormwings valued young for this reason, and Zircah wasn't going to leave the young Flamewing alone in a strange realm to have her kit.

She couldn't even dream of flying as fast as the dragon, though, so she was too late to do anything but land and introduce herself to the dragon and the kit.

__

- Greetings, wise one. - She said reverently. _- Do you require assistance in any way? -_

-_ Eater, why have you left the battle? Do you tire of your duty? -_ The dragon was puzzled as she nuzzled her kit.

-_ Our duty has been forgotten by the mortals, Flamewing. It cannot be done until they all remember what we live for. I came here to make sure that all went well with the birth of your kit. I did not sense her in you when first I saw you._ -

__

- That is because she was hurt badly and near death. The red robes on the ships... - The dragon trailed off, listening intently to something that Zircah couldn't hear. She bowed her head to look down at her kit and then back to Zircah with slit-pupilled eyes. _- Guard Skysong, Eater, if you wish to help. I go to take my revenge on the red robes and to repay the mortal that healed my kit._ -

Zircah was stunned, but nodded. _- I will guard her until you return, Flamewing._ - The dragon chuckled softly at this, and trotted the short way to the cave's entrance. She looked about outside with calm amber eyes.

-_ If you do not trust this Eater, keep him away from Skysong. -_ She suggested, then took off in a swirl of violet scales. Zircah blinked and rushed to the entrance, where a shell-shocked Rikash was coming in for a landing. The male paused in his descent when she appeared and glided down more slowly.

"What do you want, Moonsword?" Zircah called. Her eyes were narrowed as she spread her wings to bar him entrance to the cave. Rikash halted his descent completely.

"I could ask you the same question. You shrieked, and I quote, 'Holy Mithros, she's _pregnant_!'at the top of your lungs and then went tearing off away from Pirate's Swoop. I wanted to know what in the name of the Black God you were talking about, so I followed you." He said. Zircah watched him carefully before retreating into the cave so that the male could land.

"The dragon had a kit. I'm guarding her until Flamewing returns." She said, gazing directly into Rikash's eyes. "If you're having thoughts of harming her, you can forget it. You would die before you moved half an inch."

Rikash looked mildly insulted. "Have you forgotten that I'm a Stormwing? I would no sooner kill a child than cut off my wings." He glared at her.

"My mother was a Stormwing, too. She threw me to my probable death. She held out her wings for children's throats to be slit, Moonsword. What does that make of Stormwing honour?" Her voice was cold but strangely calm. Rikash stared at her in a triangulation of disgust, horror and disbelief. "That's right, Moonsword. She's not at all the honourable queen you may have thought she was, and nor are her subjects."

Rikash shifted from foot to foot and glanced further into the cave at an inquiring whistle. It appeared the dragon kit had woken up. She wobbled forward and Zircah moved in front of her automatically, nudging her back into the cave depths with the blunt edges of her wings.

"Skysong, you mustn't go out there." She murmured soothingly. "You'll fall." Skysong chirped and skittered back towards Rikash. Zircah jerked her head at him. "Moonsword, come in here so she doesn't go near the edge."

Rikash moved forward with an ungainly skipping motion that made Zircah smile. Her longer legs made it much easier to walk on land. She had none of the trouble other Stormwings seemed to.

A white hot pain flooded through her mind and she let out a screech that near deafened Rikash. Into her mind floated an image of the cave they were in, a thanks and a summoning - the summoning and the image were not for her. The pain blinked out abruptly and Zircah knew that Flamewing was dead. Even as she heard Rikash asking if she was all right, she felt the approach of a much larger, much older immortal and understood her prophecy.

"Flamewing is dead - the kraken has come to the battle. Only there is no battle any more. It's almost over." She smiled bitterly. "And my mother... my mother is about to die."

"What?" Rikash stared at her. "Are you serious, Bladewing?"

"Of course, Moonsword. When am I not? The battle is over. Flamewing is sending another to be the guardian of her kit. It can only be Veralidaine." She sounded lost and dazed, even to her own ears. "She has wild magic too, you know. She can speak to the Beasts, just like I can. That's where my Healing comes from." She laughed slightly, and Rikash looked at her as though she had gone mad. She wasn't sure she could reassure him that was false - she wasn't certain that it was.

It took two days before Zircah felt the kraken's departure. She smiled when she felt his black tinge leaving her radar - it was an overbearing darkness on all her senses. She and Rikash waited for several more hours until Zircah could feel people coming.

"We should leave before Veralidaine arrives." She told Rikash. The male had been startlingly quiet and subservient while they waited - she had no notion as to why. He looked up from teasing Skysong with a feather and nodded.

"You're certain she will come?" Zircah smirked at his veiled concern for the dragon kit.

"She's coming now, Moonsword." She said wryly. "If you're going to be sentimental about it, we can wait ten miles out from the shore until she leaves and come back to check that Skysong isn't still here."

Rikash snorted. "You're actually going to leave the dragon kit with a mortal?"  
"It's what Flamewing wanted." Zircah said simply. Rikash's green eyes hardened as he nodded and looked down at Skysong, who was twined about his legs like a cat. Zircah smiled gently as she called to the dragon with her magic. Skysong chirruped and waddled towards her, much more used to walking now.

"Perhaps we'll see you again, Skysong." She murmured as she put a light sleep-spell on the dragon. It would last until someone entered the cave. Skysong squeaked as she let out a yawn, and curled up between two rocks. Zircah smiled down at the dragon kit and moved reluctantly towards the mouth of the cave. "Hurry up, Moonsword."

She took off and struck out south without waiting for Rikash. She knew he'd follow her. He caught up a few minutes later. "Carthak?" He queried blandly.

"Carthak. I presume that's where Jokhun has led the rest of Stone Tree." Zircah replied. She and Rikash had come to an odd sort of peace in the last two days. Rikash knew that it was because he was terrified of the little copy of _him_ she might destroy if he annoyed her, but Zircah had no idea of this. All she knew was that it was nice to have the infamous pest of Stone Tree nation more or less on her side.

*

A/N: Well, that's another chapter done, and the end of the _Wild Magic_ section of this story! ^^ Now we can get on to more interesting things... like Dunlath. Mwaa. *glee* Please review and let me know what you think!


	6. The Long Lake

Chapter Five: The Long Lake

When Zircah and Rikash arrived in Carthak almost a week later, Emperor Ozorne almost had a fit.

"What are you doing here? Are there problems in Dunlath?" He demanded of them, clutching the sides of his golden throne. He was dressed in a tunic the rich, glittering shade of peacock blue, with a shoulder wrap of gold cloth. Rings of gold and dark green gems adorned his fingers, toes and ears. Zircah thought he looked too sparkly for his own good, but she stared at him, perplexed, in response to his half-panicked exclamation.

"Dunlath, your honour? I'm afraid we were detained at Pirate's Swoop." She said, nudging a tone of respect into her voice. Ozorne's frown deepened.

"Which nation are you?" He asked. Zircah told him and waited patiently as he muttered angrily under his breath for a while. Then he told them, "Go north and east until you find Fief Dunlath, the Long Lake. Most of your flock is there. You are Lord Rikash and Lady Zircah are you not?" Rikash and Zircah nodded in surprise. "King Jokhun has appointed Razor Scream's Jakaal in charge there in your absence, but you may inform him that you are his superior when you get there. Zircah, you are supposed to be the Champion, are you not? Regard Lord Rikash as your liege until Jokhun returns. Now leave - I'm a busy emperor."

As soon as they were out of the imperial palace, Zircah felt a nagging suspicion that she should have gone back. Instead she scowled. "Some directions. 'Go north and then east'. How far? Stupid mortal." She spat, giving no thought to who might be below her. She turned her attention to Rikash. "So, you're to be in charge? What a fool Jokhun was to put a weedy male like you at the top in an operation that clearly means a lot to the emperor."

Rikash glared at her. "I suppose you think you'd do better?"

"Well, of course." Zircah agreed. "Naturally. I can fight better than you. But I'm not really interested in petty power games." She shrugged off the indignant annoyance as though she shrugged off a cloak. Rikash raised an eyebrow at this, but didn't reply. A slight nervousness emanated from him.

He frowned as he flapped determinedly along the River Zekoi. _So much for regarding me as her king._ He thought derisively. _Then again, it would be best if she didn't._ He thought back to when she had crushed a model of her king and shivered despite himself, drifting away from his companion slightly.

Zircah sank back into her surly silence as she flew, in preparation for the time at the Long Lake. She didn't want anyone to think that she and Moonsword had become friends. That might prove dangerous. It was always dangerous to have friends. Friends could wound like no one else could.

"Welcome to Dunlath, Lord Rikash, Zircah." The speaker was a mortal of about thirty by the name of Belden. His wife, the Lady Yolane of Dunlath, hung from his arm looking smug.

"Thankyou, Lord Belden." Rikash replied. "Perhaps you could tell me why you require our services - the emperor was somewhat vague."

"Understandably." Yolane interjected smoothly. "Lord Rikash, we discovered opals in the cliffs to the north. The emperor wished to buy them from us, so we agreed - after all, he pays much better than Jonathan. We have eight hurroks stabled here, along with eighteen of yours and fifteen of Razor Scream's Stormwings. You'll find the Stormwing roosts at each of the command posts to the north and south. Lord Jakaal has had his sentries combing the forest every day, and the hurroks at night. They see better in the dark, after all."

"It may be best if I place some Stormwings on night patrol as well, my lady." Rikash replied, taking authority without realising it. "We manoeuvre far better than the hurroks. Some see very well in the dark." He nodded to Zircah and she smirked smugly. At least he recognised her ability. "Do you know where we might find Jakaal? I have to inform him he's no longer in command."

"I believe he's at the northern fort. You'll have to find him yourself, I'm afraid." Belden said gravely. "We'll introduce you to our mages properly some other time, Lord Rikash. It is late, I fear, and we're very busy lately."

"My lord." Rikash bowed. Zircah curtseyed obediently, holding her position for two seconds after Rikash had straightened. Belden and Yolane were already walking away. When they were gone, Zircah turned to Rikash.

"You ought to tread more carefully around this Jakaal. He will resent you taking away his power. Allow him to retain some command over his own flock, at least, and you'll avoid unnecessary confrontation." She suggested. Rikash tossed his head, making the bones braided into his hair clatter.

"You know an awful lot for someone uninterested in nation politics." He told her. Zircah shrugged. Her head snapped around with a jangle of feathers as a young girl stepped out from the stairs. The girl stepped back with an indrawn breath, but Zircah folded her wings and nodded encouragingly at her.

"Who might you be, hatchling?" She asked easily. The girl drew herself up straight. She was a plain, stocky child with a dusting of freckles and cropped brown hair.

"I'm Maura of Dunlath, Yolane's half-sister." She informed them. Her cinnamon brown eyes scrutinised them carefully. There was a brief silence before she observed, "You look nicer than the others. They're always teasing and being nasty."

Rikash smiled lazily at the child. "Oh, you just haven't known us long." Maura giggled as Zircah rolled her eyes.

"Don't pay any attention to him, Lady Maura. He's just got a promotion and the power's gone to his head." She reached up and, with the wrist-joint of her wing, rapped Rikash firmly on the head. The male winced.

"Thanks for that vote of confidence." He said dryly.

"And now he'll sulk, you watch." Zircah stage-whispered to Maura. Rikash pouted and glowered at the ground. Maura burst into laughter, holding her sides and doubling over. Finally she regained her balance and wiped her eyes.

"It was nice to meet you... uh, what are your names?" The girl's cheeks went pink upon discovering she still didn't know their names.

"Zircah. And he's Rikash. _Lord_ Rikash, I should say." Zircah made a face. Maura smiled.

"Good night Lord Rikash, Lady Zircah." Maura said, curtseying politely. She went back down the stairs and Rikash sniggered.

"_Lady_ Zircah," he said with a much-embellished bow. "Shall we away?"

"Oh shut up." Zircah grumbled good-naturedly as they took off into the darkening sky. As they wheeled north, she added, "Nice kid, isn't she? She seems sad, though."

Rikash shrugged, apparently disinterested. "What has she got to want for?" He said, effectively ending the conversation as Zircah glared at him. She flew behind him silently to the north fort and landed more gracefully and quietly than he did outside a large hut full of Stormwings.

A K'miri Stormwing hopped off the perch and came towards them. "Name yourselves, strangers." His voice was rich and mellow. It was all Zircah could do not to drool as she watched his glimmering black eyes.

"Rikash Moonsword." Rikash drawled. "Zircah Bladewing," he added, gesturing with a deprecating wing. "I presume you're Jakaal?"

"You presume correctly." Jakaal said with a grin. He nodded to Zircah with a smile. Zircah half-lidded her eyes and smirked at him, drawing herself up slightly straighter.

"I was told you were in charge until I got here." Rikash said, annoying Zircah with his callousness. "Perhaps you could tell me what's been happening since you arrived?"  
Jakaal looked mildly surprised to have his authority usurped so easily. "You want me to report?"

"If that will get me all there is to know - yes." Rikash replied diffidently. Zircah shot a glare at him, which he ignored.

Jakaal winked at her and related the happenings of Dunlath for the past eight days. Zircah noticed that there was no dried blood on _this_ Stormwing's teeth, and ran her tongue over her own quickly, tossing back her hair with a long cacophony of 'tink's. Rikash noticed that he didn't know the names of any of his inferiors bar those in his own flock. He asked for them.

This done, Jakaal pointed out the hurrok stables and directed them to their roosts. It was a single bar with a dozen or so Stormwings perched on it already, but there was still a little bit of space at the end, near some of the Stone Tree Stormwings. Rikash clambered on closest to the wall and had to brush the wall with his wings as he settled for the night. Zircah gave the Stormwings he roosted next to a _look_ and they all shuffled down obediently to give her room. Zircah smiled sweetly and took her place on the roost, sinking her claws into the already lacerated bar. She ruffled her feathers and they settled back into place with a symphony of little clicks. She shook her hair back with a noise like a brass band falling off a cliff and closed her eyes.

On her boring patrols around the valley that held the Long Lake, (The one piece of excitement was when they spotted a Rider group, but that wasn't on her watch. She only got to look at the crater every patrol.) Zircah was not pleased to note how few People answered her calls. Those that did protested the Stormwing and hurrok patrols and objected loudly to the tree-cutters and the burrow-destroyers. Zircah discovered that, in addition to quarrying opals, the two-leggers were chopping down vast amounts of the forest in their valley. When she spoke to the water People, they told her that many who lived at the northern end of the lake had died - Zircah suspected that the water had been poisoned by the humans' activities.

When she mentioned it to Maura during a visit to the castle, the girl was concerned. "You could mention it to Yolane and Belden, but I don't think it would do much good - a girl tried last night and Yolane and Tristan laughed at her. Yolane's never been concerned with things like that, not even before my father died."

"That's a shame. The land and the creatures could be her allies. Who but the moles could say where it was best to dig for opals and gems? Who but the ants could tell her when and how long it was going to rain? Always remember that every creature has its strengths, Maura." She paused as Rikash flew past. "Except the stupid blonde ones."

Maura giggled and shook her head. "You shouldn't be so mean to Lord Rikash, Lady Zircah. He does the best he can, and he's nice enough. He takes me flying, did you know that?" Maura's ten-year-old face glowed with remembered delight as Zircah stared at her. _Flying? That pain in the tail Stormwing took her flying?_

"It's wonderful. You've no idea how lucky you are to have wings. I could fly for hours..." Maura sighed ruefully. "Of course, I'm a bit heavy, so he can't carry me for too long. But it's wonderful while it lasts."

Zircah chuckled, a little uneasily, through her surprise. Maura smiled at her and then waved to someone behind her. "Hallo Lord Rikash!" Zircah turned slightly to see that the blonde Stormwing had just landed. She veiled her curiosity and shuffled slightly to one side of Maura.

"Hello Maura." Rikash replied, giving the girl a quick smile. "Any news?"

"There were guests at the castle last night, a man and a girl a hand of years older than me." Maura reported eagerly. "The girl's name was Daine, and she could talk to animals! She talked to the mice, and they let me feed them. They're really cute. Then she - Rikash? Lady Zircah?" Maura trailed off in puzzlement as the Stormwings traded dark looks.

"So, Veralidaine was here." Zircah muttered. "That girl gets everywhere, doesn't she?"

Rikash frowned, brow crinkling slightly. "I'm sure Tristan would inform us if there were a problem."  
Zircah gave him a sceptical look, but turned back to Maura. On impulse, she asked, "How would you like if I made a sling for you? That way you could fly more easily with Lord Rikash - you wouldn't have his talons digging into you, for one thing. And," she added with a disdainful look at the male, "you wouldn't have to _smell_ him so much, either."

Maura let out a squeal and hugged Zircah around the neck. "Would you, Lady Zircah? Oh, thankyou!"

Rikash looked slightly put out, so Maura reassured him with all the tact of her ten years. "It's not 'cause you smell, Lord Rikash." When Zircah started sniggering, she received a sulky look from Rikash and an amused glare from Maura. The two combined to make her laugh even harder.

Finally she stopped and, concentrating her magic, created a sling. She was a little dizzy when she'd finished shaping the fabric so that it wouldn't be uncomfortable, but the delighted grin on Maura's face was worth a little of her own discomfort.

"Thankyou Lady Zircah!" The girl cried, holding up the sling. "It's wonderful."

"Wait until you test it before you start exclaiming over it." Zircah suggested. "I'm not sure how good it will be."

"Can we try it now?" Maura's eyes were shining with excitement. Rikash smiled at her, his eyes crinkling slightly, but shook his head.

"Maybe later, hatchling. Lady Zircah and I have work to do."

"Oh." Disappointment was plain in Maura's eyes, but she hid it well. "All right, then. I'll talk to you later, then. Bye Lord Rikash, Lady Zircah!" She dashed away before she could incur the wrath of her nurse.

Zircah turned to Rikash, faintly surprised. "Work?"

"Those mortals Maura was talking about. We have to scope the valley for them. Just to be sure they've escaped." He snorted. "Come on."

He hop-skipped over to the large window. Zircah followed him with rather more decorum. She opened her wings. "It's good that you spend time with Maura." She said solemnly. "She doesn't have much left, here."

Rikash turned to stare at her, but she was already out the window.

*

A/N: Well, I don't have much to say... just some comments to some reviewers. ^^

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Kenta Divina - Rats, you've caught me! Potential there is, indeed. *grin* But this can end in any number of ways... I think I'm going to end up with about eight alternate endings, by my count! ;

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Nogard - I know, I'd thought of that. By that point of the fic, well... let's just say that Rikash is intent on remaining as unremarkable to Ozorne as possible with his station as a vassal.


	7. The Barrier

Chapter Six: The Barrier

Zircah concentrated all her senses on the ground as it scrolled past beneath her, reaching out with her war-terror as she did so. Ideally, this would scare the Stormwings' quarry into doing something loud or stupid, but given the late hour she thought the worst it might do would be to give the humans and the animals of the valley bad dreams.

They had scoured the valley that contained the Long Lake at least thrice, blasting the whole place with as much war-terror as they could summon. _The only good thing about this,_ Zircah reflected rather guiltily, _is that I get to spend extra time with Jakaal._ With this in mind, she had calmly placed herself beside the K'miri Stormwing. Her only annoyance as far as placement went was that Rikash had planted himself firmly on her other side. _What is he, a paid chaperone? Stupid Moonsword._ She scowled at the ground. Another side of her mind reminded her that he was currently her leader and that he was better than Jokhun. She ignored it.

As she had expected, their search proved fruitless. Either the humans were better at this than she was (she snorted at the thought) or they had fled the valley. Staghorn had not been in the least pleased, though this could have been due to the fact that a large number of the tools being used to clear land had been stolen. It had slowed clearing to an almost complete halt. No one had seen or heard the faintest whisper of thieves bar the People. The Long Lake Pack, they told her, confusing her considerably. Even had she been willing to share her People-borne tidings with her flock, it made no sense. Why would wolves have stolen the tools of men? Even if they had chosen to attack, which she doubted they would, they should have attacked the men themselves, not the tools they used. That wasn't the way a wolf thought. _Something queer is going on here..._

Rikash approached, fanning his wings lightly as he hovered. "I don't suppose you sensed them out, Bladewing?"

"I wasn't close enough or they aren't here. I could be wrong - sleep muffles mind-signatures." She told him. Beside her, Jakaal frowned.

"Sense?" He asked. "You have some sort of sense, Bladewing?"

"...Sort of." Zircah replied, shooting a death glare at Rikash when he glared suspiciously between her and Jakaal. "I have wild magic, which means I may speak to animals and sense them. I have a natural mind-signature radar, and my range is about fifteen miles."

Jakaal appeared fascinated. "Really...? That's unusual. I had heard you had strange talents, but not like this."

Zircah smiled, accepting this as clumsy flattery. "I'd be more than happy to explain it to you properly." She offered, trying to sound offhand.

Unnoticed, Rikash rolled his eyes at the pink-tinged Zircah. He had thought Barzha and Hebakh's exchanges were bad enough. "If you two aren't too _busy_," he sneered, "Perhaps we could speak to Staghorn. He wants mages to help him bring a couple of Coldfangs through."

Zircah whirled in midair to give him a withering look. "If _you_ feel like pandering to that fool's wishes, go ahead. Send him Ludahn and Aveil. Their power is sufficient to shield and narrow-down a summoning. I'm no great mage, Moonsword. Ludahn and Aveil, however weak and brainless otherwise, are." She scowled at him pointedly.

Rikash, chastened, shot a nasty look past her at Jakaal and changed the angle of his wings abruptly. He swept away to the left to speak to the two Stormwings Zircah had suggested.

Jakaal laughed, a high grating sound. "Well, I had thought you were the beauty and he the brains, but now I see that you're both." He told her gallantly. Zircah smirked and tried not to grin like a fool.

"It took you this long?"

Zircah was speaking with the hurroks when the barrier went up around the valley that contained the Long Lake. She frowned as she felt a Coldfang nearby and ruffled her feathers thoughtfully.

__

Is this so important to Staghorn? She asked of a hurrok. _I don't see why he's so anxious to get those tools back._

The hurrok growled and gnashed its teeth. _That mage is foolish. And annoying - every time he uses his power, this collar gives off fire._

Somehow I doubt he cares. Zircah replied ruefully. The hurrok snorted and butted his nose against her shoulder.

__

Then he is even stupider than we thought. When we are free I will rend his fine robes and perfumed skin to dust. Then what will he do will his stinking slave collars? The hurrok's tone was deadly serious.

Zircah nodded, a look of equal anger coming over her face. _You know I would remove it if I could._ She paused, thoughtful._ I promise to bring you a piece of his flesh if we get to him first. He insists we are only harriers, but he will use us in the front lines regardless of the cost._

Kill him. The hurrok suggested blithely. Zircah smiled. She wasn't far from taking his advice.

She left the hurrok stables and took to the sky, scowling as she noticed how restrictive the barrier would be. Experimentally, she sliced a wing at it. Then she smiled. Tristan wasn't powerful enough to erect a complete barrier for immortals. A smug smile on her face, she flew on.

A droning sound reached her and she peered through the trees as she tried to spot the Coldfang. She grimaced as she did. It plodded carefully through the undergrowth, pausing occasionally to swing its head from side to side to choose a path. Zircah banked as it looked up at her and hissed. She had always hated Coldfangs. They seemed to think that she had stolen the feathers that she wore in her hair. She watched the great reptile with narrowed eyes.

It was a glittering blue with bright slashed of gold and green and more ominous insets of dark grey and violet. Somehow the bright markings on its beaded skin served as camouflage rather than making it stand out. She circled a tower that billowed evil-smelling smoke, coughing and scowling. Another Coldfang was inside.

__

Damn Tristan. Does he have to put those things everywhere? They're impossible to talk to, and they're giving me a headache! Grumpily, Zircah flew over Dunlath's river to escape the whine-drone of the thief-tracking immortals.

When she came back, the immortal was nowhere to be sensed. She glided in the direction she had seen it heading, but felt only a shadow-awareness unlike anything she had ever felt. Disquieted, she left that awareness far behind and returned to her perch in the northern fort.

She was pleased to find Rikash there. She had been meaning to ask what his problem was. Before she could ask, however, Jakaal, Ludahn and two others from Jakaal's flock landed nearby. She turned to face them and traded glares with Ludahn. The brunette backed down after about ten seconds. Muttering to her companions, she took off. The two Stormwings Zircah didn't know shot glances at Jakaal for permission before they followed Ludahn.

"We spotted a basilisk on our rounds, warned him about that mortal." Jakaal grinned. "He'll get rid of her on sight now - I told him about the dragon kit she stole."

Zircah affected an admiring smile. "You must have better eyes than I to be able to spot a basilisk in these trees." Jakaal preened. They traded banter.

In the background, Rikash regarded Jakaal with something akin to jealousy in his eyes. He took in all possible weaknesses, cataloguing them for later use. He hated Jakaal, hated him more than Staghorn, or even Belden and Yolane for the way they mistreated Maura. He wasn't entirely sure why. He regarded the ground in front of the roost as though it were covered in slugs and tightened his grip upon the roost, making the wooden rail creak in protest. Jakaal had to die.

Zircah circled Dunlath castle idly the following morning and looked down in surprise as a mortal on a horse trotted briskly away from the castle. Zircah focussed on the shadowed face of the figure in the faded blue cloak and frowned. It was Maura. She swooped down to block the road. Maura reined in her horse abruptly, making the already nervous creature toss its head back. Zircah spent several moments reassuring it, then turned her attention to the guilty-looking human.

"Lady Maura, where are you off to?"

"I'm just going for a ride." Maura peeked out nervously from the hood.

"Oh? With a pack and a travelling cloak?" Zircah asked, tossing her hair back. "Where are you _really_ going?"

Maura hesitated. "I... I can't tell you, Lady Zircah. I'm setting something right." She leaned forward, whispering urgently, "But please don't tell anyone I've gone, Lady Zircah!"  
Zircah regarded the girl carefully, thinking fast, and eventually nodded. "I won't tell a soul, Maura. Keep your hood up." She winked. "And do give my regards to this king I've heard so much against..."

Maura's face lit. "Thankyou Lady Zircah." She nudged her mount forward, but Zircah didn't move. The horse slowed again.

"Be careful, you understand me?" Zircah ordered imperiously. "If you get hurt Moonsword will never stop whining..."

Maura giggled. "I promise, Lady Zircah." The Stormwing stepped out of the way and leapt back into the air as Maura urged the horse forward again. Zircah watched her go and then lifted back into the sky. _Maura doesn't know about the barrier. She'll be back before sundown._ She assured herself. Something told her she would be wrong.

*

A/N: Sorry it's so short, guys. =S I've been trying to make them longer, but I just don't have the knack. Just a couple of comments for reviewers…

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Olorin - Well of _course_ Zircah and Daine meet! *lol* Just not quite yet, a'ight? Patience! *thwacks hand lightly*

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Kenta Divina - Maura doesn't have much left in Dunlath, not 'not much time'. *grin* Because of Yolane bein' such a bitch and all. Just to clear up some confusion there.


	8. Confronting Fears

Disclaimer: Don't own anything you saw in the Immortals Quartet. Own Zircah Bladewing and the extra bits of storyline. That's it.

A/N: Apologies for the state of this chapter. It never helps when you're on a crappy PC and FF.Net dies, too. Anyways, sorry for how long this took. It's kinda hard to write eight things at once.

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Chapter Seven

Confronting Fears

Zircah's eyes snapped open as soon as the mortal woman entered the Stormwing roost. "What do you want?" She demanded, fully awake, and regretted her harsh question as the mortal let out a startled shriek and jumped back, hand on her heart. There was an immediate chain reaction as every Stormwing in the roost came suddenly awake and brought their wings up to cowl their heads defensively.

Zircah sent out a quelling calm with her wild magic. More than half the Stormwings' eyes fluttered closed again. With a snort of contempt, Zircah turned her attention back to the servant woman, who had still not built up the courage to venture back inside. "Well? I asked you a question, ground-pounder."

The servant steeled herself and stepped inside again. Timidly, she bobbed into a curtsey. "Excuse me, Lord Rikash, Lady Zircah. I've been asked to speak to you by Lady Maura's nurse and Cook Sara."

Zircah stared at her and glanced to her side to find that Rikash had not been sent spiralling back into the dream world by her magic. She was almost impressed with his will, but that vanished once she remembered that his name had come before hers when the mortal addressed them. She knew he was the leader for this mission, but she was far superior to him in everything else. She sneered as Rikash eyed the mortal somewhat wearily.

"Well. You've spoken. Is that it?" His voice was wry. Zircah could tell he was tired, but apparently it didn't stop him from thinking he was the funniest thing in the world. Her lips twitched into a smirk for a split-second and then back into her customary disapproving pout.

The servant, too, cracked a smile. "She told us you were funny." She took a deep breath. "She's... Lady Maura is missing. The nobles don't know yet, and we were wondering if you could try to find her and bring her home. Before Yol-- before milady notices." Zircah cursed silently. _She hasn't returned yet?_

Rikash frowned, a hint of concern showing in the bright green eyes. "Missing? For how long?"

"Since yesterday afternoon." Zircah replied before the servant could. She bated in annoyance and thinly veiled anxiety. "I saw her leave. She asked me to say nothing, so I have. I expected her to return before evening, though - she is but a mortal. She could not possibly get through the Barrier. She must still be in the valley."

Both the mortal woman and Rikash turned on her, but the woman got in first.

"You mean to tell me that you _let_ a _little girl_ ride off on her own with _no supplies_?" The servant's voice was a whisper that rose slowly to a hoarse shriek. As several Stormwings stirred again, Zircah reached out with calm once more, carefully avoiding Rikash's consciousness. "There are _wolves_ in these woods!"

Rikash raised an eyebrow at the woman, pausing in his anger with Zircah for a moment. _She stands alone in a Stormwing roost and yet she worries about wolves?_ "Calm down." He heard himself tell her coldly, condescendingly. "We'll look for her today. We'll bring her back."

"Alive?" The servant made bold to hiss. Zircah almost laughed.

"Of course alive." She sneered. "I have an affinity with the Beasts, mortal, and they do not touch your kind unless you provoke them. However this valley might have been disturbed lately, they would not attack a child. Mortals don't taste very nice, especially not to the wolves. That's why any human that attacks them first is left to rot until your kind finds them - they don't like your flesh. Maura will be fine. I would have heard had any wolf pack - any creature at all - caught a human. The news would have passed through the valley as a warning to stay out of sight." The servant seemed shocked by her fervour in cleaning the apparently dirty slate of wolves and other Vicious Beasts of the woodlands. She nodded, silent in her surprise. Rikash took the opportunity to cut in.

"When we find her, we will deliver her to your kitchen door so that she is not seen by the nobility." The servant nodded, curtsied gratefully and fled. Rikash turned to Zircah with his eyes closed and a pained expression on his face. His green eyes opened to stare at her with mingled fury, panic and resigned calm.

"Don't ever let her go off on her own again. Patrols might have destroyed her. They would not have known who she was. They don't commune with humans more than they have to. _Never_ let her go off alone again. Understood?"

Zircah opened her mouth to let out a childish retort, but ended up letting out a scream when an oppressively loud ringing sound echoed cruelly across he valley. It pressed on her eardrums, made her lungs vibrate to the sound. She recoiled from the inescapable clang, sagging in relief when it stopped. It sounded again, and this time all the Stormwings around her were awake to shriek in pain and attempt vainly to cover their ears. When it stopped for the second time, Zircah remained tensed, waiting with her eyes screwed shut for the agonising sound to repeat. When it didn't, she stopped cringing and tried to look as though the sound had not bothered her in the slightest. It wouldn't have mattered had fallen off her perch (as several of her companions had) as no one had moved besides herself. Jakaal, she noticed, was still, face screwed up as though expecting further punishment. Rikash was the next to open his eyes, head ducked slightly in apprehension. The sound did not repeat itself a third time.

Rapid footsteps approached and one of the mages, Gissa, appeared at one end of the roost. "Stormwings! Find whoever did that and silence him!" She snapped. Zircah stared for a moment at the stump where one of her long, graceful hands used to be. Gissa must have noticed the inspection, for she pointed to the skies and screamed, "NOW!" Rikash gave her a level look, but took off. Zircah followed him.

"All of you come with me!" Rikash ordered. There was a rush of silver toward the skies and the entire roost full of Stormwings wheeled to the south. Zircah nearly smiled - it was good to have a nation's numbers around her in the air again. She was sick of patrols with just one or two Stormwings. She shook her head minutely as she acknowledged this. She had loathed the surrounding Stormwings in her nation in the past - when had she changed? She scowled, shaking her hair back to whip its tinkling feathers about in the wind. She smiled as the Stormwings trailing her veered away. _They learn so quickly nowadays._ She thought with misplaced glee.

Rikash's brow was furrowed as his green eyes scanned the land beneath him hastily, watching for any sign of the mortal child he had grown so attached to. Zircah's euphoria abandoned her suddenly, and she set to searching for Maura, too. The rest of the nation could look for the mage who had assaulted the Barrier. As they neared the western entrance to the valley, Zircah could feel the presence of the girl. That in itself was reassuring. She was about to tell Rikash when she sensed something entirely strange - a basilisk. _It must be the same creature that Jakaal saw._ She decided. She searched around the basilisk's mind-signature and discovered with surprise that she could feel the mortal with wild magic, too. It worried her. If Daine sensed them coming... they would never catch her by surprise. But by the strange, drifting quality of the signature burned into her magical radar, Zircah knew that the girl was in a trance of some sort. With luck, she wouldn't notice the approach of an entire Stormwing nation.

__

Some hopes! The more cynical side of her mind scoffed. She didn't get the chance to reply, as Rikash picked up the pace of his flight. She followed him, faster and faster. He was going to fly around the perimeter - he was going to fly right _past_ them, for Mithros' sake! Zircah scowled and pushed upon his mind with hers. _You will veer right, you will veer right, because if you don't I will forever regard you as a stupid blockhead who is immune to suggestion!_ Rikash veered right. Zircah smiled, pleased with the efficiency of her power, and followed him. Maura's blip in her radar was getting closer. She should be able to see her... she should have been able to see the girl a way back. She scanned the undergrowth with something approaching impatience. _She certainly isn't dead... where is she? Where in the name of the Graveyard Hag is Maura?_

Her question was answered as Maura suddenly ran out into the open, waving her arms delightedly. She stood on top of a rocky outcrop some way to their right. Zircah nearly grinned with relief and went as fast as she could to catch up to Rikash. Once she reached him, she plonked both her clawed feet on his shoulders and turned him roughly. She could feel his annoyance as he looked up at her in confusion and surprise.

"Bladewing, what do you think you're--"

Zircah tightened her talons briefly. "Maura at twelve o' clock, fool. Keep your lime-peel eyes open!" Not that she would have spotted the girl had she not been sensitive to her presence, but there was no need to turn down an opportunity to mock Rikash. She let go of his shoulders and he wheeled away toward Maura, obviously rating the safety of the mortal child high above whatever Gissa's problems might have been.

The girl looked absolutely delighted to see them, but Zircah could sense the conflicting dread of something to come. The female Stormwing enforced a command in Rikash's mind to hover, not land. With the press of the child's nervous apprehension, Zircah was not surprised when Maura's first words were, "Lord Rikash, you have to leave! You mustn't stay around here - you'll be hurt!"

"Hurt?" Rikash was puzzled. He couldn't sense the urgency behind this as Zircah could, and Zircah could feel that Veralidaine was coming closer... yet Rikash still continued to hover like an imbecile! "By whom?"

"Go away!" Maura's voice tried to be forceful, but she sounded too reluctant to speak harshly to her friends to convince Rikash entirely. "_Please_."

"Moonsword -" Zircah began, feeling the danger to them grow as Veralidaine came uncomfortably close. Then a pony burst from the trees. Veralidaine rode it, bow held high, already aimed.

"Maura, get down!" The other mortal bellowed, aiming for Rikash, whom Veralidaine had obviously perceived as the biggest threat to her younger charge. Several things happened at once. Zircah plunged to knock Rikash out of the way, Maura cried "NO!" and leapt at Veralidaine, skewing her aim so far that her bow pointed directly at Maura's ten-year-old heart.

__

REAR! Zircah commanded the pony, fear rising in her throat for Maura's safety. The pony obeyed, more out of surprise than of listening to the command. Rikash slammed feet-first into the ground, landing less than gracefully. Zircah, who had managed to correct her flight after shoulder-barging the blond male, set down behind him. Her mouth formed a grim line as silver blood ran down his tanned back from the nicks she had given him with her wings. She had to be more careful when she wasn't aiming to kill.

Veralidaine was muttering to a shame-faced Maura as the rest of the flock landed around them, blocking the trail all around. Some perched on the outcropping to allow themselves better visibility (and an easier take-off if there was real trouble). Veralidaine's scowl grew blacker until she could almost rival those of Zircah herself. She levelled her crossbow at Rikash once more. Zircah's eyes narrowed. Rikash merely looked annoyed for a moment, then looked expectantly at Maura.

"Tell her we mean you no harm, Lady Maura."

Veralidaine looked as though she'd been ambushed. "You're on speaking terms with _them_?"

"Only some." The younger girl glared at a few of the Stormwings. "They visit Yolane and Belden a lot. He is Lord Rikash, and that's Lady Zircah." Maura gestured to the two Stormwings she knew. Zircah smirked, keeping a little way behind Rikash.

"And _she_ is a Stormwing killer! She slew one of our queens last year!" Ludahn screeched. Zircah rolled her eyes and glared at the ugly brunette.

"Do we _care_?" She muttered as Daine yelled a heated reply. Her attention snapped back to the plainly mad Rikash as he skirted Maura carefully with his feathers, regarding Veralidaine and the bow pointed at his throat contemptuously. Zircah felt the tickle of wild magic at the same time the mare's ears dropped even flatter to her skull in hatred and fear of the Stormwing. Surreptitiously, she stepped on Rikash's tail to stop him from moving any further forward. "She'll bite." She hissed to the male, lips barely moving. Rikash's eyes were still cold with rage, but he acknowledged her with the slightest of nods.

"You are quick to judge us, Stormwing killer. Too quick, for a _human_. You come from a race that spends more time murdering your _own_ kind than do all the immortals put together, yet you insist you are better than us." He spat at Veralidaine's pony's hooves to show his disgust before some of the bitter anger faded from his mint green eyes and his attention returned to Maura. His voice was much gentler as he said, "You cannot leave Dunlath and you must not stay here. Come home. Yolane doesn't need to know you were away." He added, recalling the servant.

Maura's voice was bitter when she replied. "You mean she's hasn't noticed I'm gone. Has anyone?"

"That is unjust." Zircah interrupted, sensing the hurt that had risen in Maura. "You know very well that the cook and your nurse are frantic you've vanished."

"I left them notes. I told them not to worry."

Rikash took up the argument again as the other Stormwings murmured insults among themselves about the softness of their leaders. This soon stopped with one piercing glare from Zircah. "They still worried, apparently, enough to make them come to _us_."

As Maura looked frustrated and tried to explain, Zircah's attention was drawn away from the conversation by the call for help being sent out by Veralidaine. Within minutes, the mind-signatures of hundreds of starlings riddled the forest around them. Zircah realised with a half-grin that they were surrounded. "Do you know what they do?" Veralidaine was asking. "They befoul the dead who fall in battle. They live on human fear and anger. They're monsters!"

Maura shrugged casually, but her tone was colder as she replied, "They can't help how they're *made*, Daine."

Rikash shook his head in exasperation. Less than a month he had known her, and she was already arguing for him. "Maura - you can't just run away from home. And _you_ shouldn't encourage her! You're old enough to know better!" He turned on Daine like an angry parent. Cloud snapped at him warningly and he danced gracelessly back again.

"I already know better!" Maura retorted childishly as Daine looked indignant.

"I _haven't_ been encouraging her. I _tried_ to make her go back. _You're_ the one with the wings - _you_ take her!" Zircah thought it was fortunate that Maura interrupted when she did, because Zircah wasn't confident that Rikash could have argued his way out of that one.

"I won't go back and you can't make me." Maura's voice was cold, hurt. She refused to go home, and the person she was relying on for food and protection was obviously trying to get rid of her. "They're traitors. I won't stay under the same roof as them. My father would haunt me all my life if I did." Rikash stiffened at Maura's blunt words. Zircah's glee only grew - if Daine made it out of here alive, she could ruin everything! _Take that, Jokhun, and all your stupid plans!_

"Let us talk of this away from prying ears." Rikash spoke coolly but carefully, lips barely moving to bare his silver teeth.

"We can speak of it now. Daine can't tell anyone. She's stuck here, too." Maura refused to let it go, but Rikash refused to be responsible for the escape of careful plans. Zircah saw the muscles of his jaw tighten in anger.

"Quiet! You're a _child_! You do not understand what is taking place, and you must not speak of matters you cannot comprehend." Rikash shouted. As he spoke, Maura's eyes took on glassiness, and Rikash's voice softened so that she wouldn't burst into tears, taken in by those huge brown eyes. Zircah could have slapped her forehead. Showing weakness, even to a ten-year-old, was dangerous. She sighed. _Pathetic. There go all those respect points he'd earned..._ Zircah knew perfectly well that Maura was bluffing. Seeing its effectiveness, she made a mental note to try it on Jakaal some time.

Daine apparently noticed this, too. "Go on, shut her up. I never thought to see you stinkers baulked by anyone, let alone a ten-year-old." Many Stormwings whooped in appreciative amusement, headed by Jakaal, who was cackling wildly at the misfortune of his usurper. Zircah smiled nastily as Rikash looked back at his supposedly loyal nation. The blond male turned slowly red with humiliation.

He spoke through grit teeth to the witty mortal girl. "It is hard for us to bear young. That being the case, we value others' young, particularly when they are neglected." He shot a dirty look at Maura. "Affection has led me to indulge Lady Maura more than is wise."

"Awwww." Jakaal mocked, making the Stormwings burst into laughter again.

Maura sighed resignedly, obviously touched by this admission and his loyalty despite the amusement of his peers. "All right, Lord Rikash. I'll hush. Only I'm not coming back with you. You don't have to tell them you saw me."

Rikash blanched. Like hell he was going to tell that serving woman he'd seen Maura and not brought her back. "If you were mine, I would beat you." Empty threat. He would do no such thing.

Zircah couldn't resist snorting derisively. "As though a female would accept him." She stage-whispered to the rest of the flock. They dissolved into cackles once more. Rikash didn't even bother turning to apprehend her. She could feel the ice of his heart as he next spoke, and knew that she would catch holy hell for that slight later on. He had withdrawn from her entirely, without even realising he could do such a thing. Zircah reached instinctively, but was blocked by something she didn't quite recognise. He had turned his attention from the rest of them to Daine. "As for _you_-"

Daine grinned and the Stormwings cringed as the starlings hidden in the trees began to shrill and whistle loudly. "Go on, take me in." The smug mortal girl challenged Rikash. "You might last two or three minutes in the air with my friends going for your eyes."

Rikash looked furious at being thwarted. Zircah just looked annoyed - these dratted birds were giving her a headache. As those who surrounded her tried to cover their ears, she looked around at the trees angrily. "Be QUIET!" She bellowed with both her voice and her mind. The starlings shut up, stunned by the power of the blast. Rikash turned, eyes cold and empty as he left Maura on the ground.

"The gods help you if I catch you in the open! Maura, you had better re-think your choice of friends!" At Daine's behest, the starling started to jeer and whistle again, but a little more quietly because of the simmering fury of Zircah Bladewing. The flock took off after Rikash, leaving Zircah alone on the ground as they flapped away, recalling the true reason they had been sent here.

"But what about your friend?" Maura cried, concern welling from her attempted coldness. "It was him making the noise, wasn't it? They might hurt him!"

Daine eyed Zircah contemptuously before turning her attention to the Barrier. "I don't think so." She said softly. There was a loud crack of magic, and within the seconds the entire flock was fleeing back to their roost, wreathed with an onion smell and covered in soot.

Zircah made a soft sound of disgust in the back of her throat. "Oh, wondrous. Do thank your mage friend for me - I have to fly behind them, you know." Even now the scent was getting to her as Daine explained the Stormwings' hatred of onions. Zircah blinked frantically as she tried not to let the evil odour overwhelm her calm exterior. She failed miserably, sneezing hard thrice in a row. Daine looked smug. Zircah sneered and spoke as though she had a cold.

"I'd be careful, were I you. You especially, Maura. Take care." She winked with the good humour she usually showed around the child. "Graveyard Hag Bless!" She leapt into the skies, flapping away and sneezing pathetically with the weakness of her entire species.

"Goddess Bless..." Maura murmured, looking after her.

***

A/N: ^^ Well, a super-long chapter (for me) should appease those of you who were ready to kill me for taking so long. Sorry! I really wanted to finish _Fuyu_. But this fic be my priority now, so you'll be getting many more updates, I believe, and probably longer chapters now that everything's getting more convoluted. ^_^ Please review to let me know what you think.


	9. Through the Mists

Disclaimer: I own not one whit of aught in the _Immortals Quartet_. I only own what you've not seen within them.

Chapter Eight: Through the Mists

Zircah watched from her perch in an elm tree as a dozen Stormwings wallowed clumsily in the shallows of the Long Lake in a futile attempt to rid themselves of the onion smell they so hated. She rolled her eyes at their blatant stupidity. Was she the _only_ one who had ever learned a cleansing spell? She thought about the reek that followed her flock everywhere and decided that it was probably a stupid question.

Since their encounter with the mage earlier that day, the Stormwings had refused to patrol in favour of plunging themselves repetitively into the lake until the onion smell was gone. Zircah was watching them boredly, wishing she had something more to do. She saw no point in patrolling, no matter how that might have curried her favour with Tristan. The human mage had been in a pet all day because of Salmalín's meddling with the Barrier. She didn't see the problem – it wasn't as though he'd broken it, was it? She snorted derisively, tossing her hair back over her shoulders with a loud chiming of feathers.

She was worried for Maura. She wasn't sure how long the girl's disappearance could remain undetected by the Lord and Lady of Dunlath. A few days at most. _Perhaps it could be arranged that Yolane see some illusions of Maura around… or even Belden._ She would need to speak to Rikash about it. Zircah looked around for him impatiently, expecting him to be among the fools dunking themselves into the lake. He wasn't, and she couldn't see him anywhere. She opened her mind to sense him out and was surprised to find that he was some way off in the forest. Unobtrusively, she spread her wings and went to find him.

She found herself following a meandering stream that fed into the Long Lake. She found she could no longer hear the other Stormwings here. It was quite pleasant, she reflected. Had Rikash chosen the spot for that reason? How strange to have something truly in common with him, if he had. She found him standing beneath a miniature waterfall, soaking wet, eyes closed. His bottom lip was caught between his teeth as though he was in pain. Zircah landed silently near him.

"You know, if any creature of the human realms could work up the nerve to attack a Stormwing, it would be you." Rikash jumped at her sudden, sharp words. "Completely unguarded. I could have killed you." Zircah continued snidely.

Rikash stared at her with cold green eyes and closed his eyes again with a mirthless chuckle. "Oh, go ahead. Really, be my guest. I don't think you could."

Zircah paused to stare at the male. "Well, I won't now, just to spite you, but isn't it enough that I nearly killed you once?"

"Of course. I'm terrified of you and of your powers." Rikash informed her. His voice was so plain and untainted by mockery in any form that Zircah became immediately suspicious and somewhat concerned.

"Are you feeling all right, Moonsword?"

Rikash stepped out of the waterfall and tossed his hair with a clatter of bones, somewhat muffled by all the water in his hair. "Just fine, Bladewing, thanks for your concern." Zircah stared at him as though he had lost his mind. She couldn't tell if he was serious or if it was some sort of joke. When she reached for him with her mind, his location was still cold and glassy to her. She realised that he was probably still fuming about his humiliation earlier, and that anger had formed a complete wall against those he perceived as a threat. She felt a moment of pride knowing he considered her threatening, but an itching sensation was building in her wingtips. She examined Rikash's mind-signature again and noticed a faint tinge of pain to it.

"What's the matter with you? You feel… sick."

Rikash stared at her in consideration, eyes slightly less blank than before. He turned his back on her. Zircah would have taken offence, but now she saw the burns that decorated the previously smooth tan of his back, interspersed with cuts and slices from her own wings. She grimaced, moving closer and balancing perilously on one leg to run the flat of a cool talon across the flushed skin. Rikash hissed in pain, Zircah in sympathy.

"Did you let the mage hit you with his godscurst onion spell?" She asked, not sounding particularly impressed with his level of intelligence. Rikash made an annoyed sound in his throat.

"If you _must_ know, I was wondering where in the Black God's realm you'd got to. Salmalín threw his spell from the trees and I didn't have the chance to get out of the way. That Barrier _sticks_," he complained viciously.

Zircah smiled. She knew what he meant. "I can Heal this, if you'd like." Rikash shook his head in refusal, shrugging his shoulders as he spun to face her, hiding his painful back from her sight. Zircah stared at him curiously. "You're mad, you know. That will make flying difficult, and painful. It might scar. The infection might kill you by making your wings too weak to allow you to control your flight. You aren't impervious to damage, Moonsword. Let me Heal it."

"No! Meddling –"

"Maura would hate it if you were crippled. I would dislike it, because it would have been my fault and I hate to kill people by accident. Let me Heal your godscurst back, Rikash." She held up her wings and cast a spell that spun him around. Rikash made an angry attempt to break free, but Zircah lay her wrist-joints on his shoulders. Rikash froze. Zircah could feel a sudden nervousness bloom in his aura. "Stay still, fool." She ordered softly, leaning forward and marvelling as the nervousness grew until it was almost a sickness in itself. "Unless of course you _want_ your tail sticking out the top of your head."

For the second time, Zircah sank deep into Rikash. Skirting the burns for now, she seared the cuts and knit the skin together. Several of the cuts were deeper than she had suspected, more like shallow stabs than scratches. Guilt tried to distract her from her purpose, but she wouldn't let it. Carefully, she nurtured new skin beneath the burns. The scabbing hardened, dulled and fell to the ground, leaving nothing to show what had been but a faintly lighter skin colour. She felt slightly dizzy…

"What? Zircah, what do you mean?"

"Huh?" Zircah felt strangely disorientated, as though she had just woken from a heavy slumber.

"You said something about the Southern Fort." Rikash sounded a little worried. He was facing her again. Zircah stared at him blankly.

"I… must have blacked out. I hope I didn't ruin your back… uh… the Southern Fort, you say…?" Zircah closed her eyes and tried to recall, but she could remember nothing. "No… nothing. I suppose the message must have been for you… odd. Perhaps you should visit the command post to the south."

"Right." Rikash said uncertainly. "Tomorrow. I think that's what you said." _Not that I was really paying attention until your head fell onto my shoulder and I had to catch you again, Bladewing._ He suppressed a shiver at the memory of her normally ice-blue eyes turning the shade of a discarded snake-skin. Not that he had been complaining at the time, but – _Stop it! Bladewing! Instant death!_ He had always been under the eerie impression she could read thoughts, and that was not a reassuring thing to believe when such thoughts drifted unchecked through his mind.

Zircah only looked glazed. "Hnn… I think I need to go… rest… premonitions usually precede a true Seeing… an important one…" She blinked and her eyes unfocussed momentarily. Rikash blanched.

"Uh, sure. Don't bother patrolling until your… uh, Seeing is over." Zircah nodded with a dazed half-smile and flew off. It was only after his shaky near panic had subsided that Rikash realised he was supposed to be mad at her.

*

It was over twenty-four hours later, and the Seeing had not come. A fog had rolled across the length of the valley, unusual for the season, and now the Northern Fort was plastered with it. Even with her excellent vision, particularly at night, Zircah couldn't see half as far as she usually could. She sat in the fork of the tallest tree she had been able to find, watching the silvery fog gravely. Her only consolation at the reduction of vision was that the fog didn't mar her magical senses at all.

Rikash had left early that morning for the Southern Fortress, and he had not yet returned. Zircah wondered whether whatever message she had given to him had led to his demise. She shrugged, trying to ignore the tendrils of worry creeping through her stomach. It wasn't as though it was her fault. Shakith's judgement was none of her business. Annoyed and slightly afraid for reasons unbeknownst to her, Zircah shut out all her magical senses out of some masochistic wish to be completely alone.

The moon drifted lazily above her, pale gold in the indigo night. Zircah looked up at it, the only thing as alone as she was. She missed Weiryn and the Green Lady. It seemed an age since she had seen them last, but she knew it would seem only like a week or so to the god and goddess. She sighed, looking up at the tiny specks of stars. So many, and yet none drifted near to the moon… she sighed again, heavily, and watched the sky sadly.

*

Rikash cursed to himself and occasionally at Zircah for suggesting that he visit the Southern Fortress as he flapped his way north. A mage who could become a squirrel had broken into the command tower and had been reading up on the happenings of Dunlath when Rikash had surprised him and trapped him in the room. However, the dratted mage had escaped due to those _stupid_ ground-pounders… _If they would just listen…_ he let out another muttered string of curses as he fought his way through the cold night air toward the fuzzy lights of the Northern Fort.

He worked his way as high as he could with his magic and his wings through the thoroughly uncooperative air, then set up a glide that would take him to the fog-wreathed fortress and the Stormwing mews. He smiled grimly as he glided down far too quickly for his liking. Now that he wasn't flapping like a demon, he could hear high, sweet notes in the still air. Rikash frowned. _Are the mortal soldiers celebrating something?_ But no, this couldn't be human music. Rikash listened, entranced, as the clear haunting melody rang through the night air. Unable to curb his curiosity, he followed the song through the still night. Through the silver fingers of the fog he flew, the music becoming louder and more beautiful as he neared its source.

Finally he espied the minstrel, very close, and nearly crashed into the tree she sat in as he recognised the moon's soft glint off feathers in her hair as well as wings. He corrected his flight hastily, but Zircah had heard his blunder and spun around with characteristic swiftness. Her voice stopped the rippling notes as she swept her wings up before her, prepared to do serious damage with them.

"It's only me, Bladewing." Rikash had time to reassure her before he landed just above her on one branch of the fork. Zircah dropped her wings back down and sidled up the other branch to be on the same level as he. When he opened his mouth to comment on her song, she gave him a withering glare that made him shut it again immediately.

"You certainly took your sweet time. Where have you been all day?"

Rikash nearly groaned. _You'd have to ask!_ "Following up on your damned prophecy…" He proceeded to grind out the entire tale. He had enough wit to remember a compliment on her singing, a rare, if not unique talent among Stormwings. She blushed very prettily as she gave him a pointed glare to signify that it would never be spoken of again.

Then she became thoughtful. Rikash was almost convinced she had forgotten he was there when she spoke. "Rikash, this squirrel… did it look like a _normal_ squirrel? I mean, was it a strange colour or… anything like that?"

"How should I know what's normal or not for a wretched tree-rat?" Rikash demanded scathingly. "It wasn't blue, if that's what you mean. It looked perfectly ordinary apart from the fact that it was reading and had enough sense to dodge my magic."

"Animals have a lot of sense, Moonsword. However, it does not usually extend to predicting the movements of an opponent." Zircah raked her front fangs over her bottom lip, thinking. "It may have been conventional magic, but my guess is that it was wild magic… a skilled wild mage can place themselves in the minds of a creature. Were I not immortal and thus glued to this form, I could also transform myself into a beast, I believe. It may be the squirrel had simply been the familiar of a wild mage, giving it more human intelligence than a regular squirrel." She mused. "What do you think?"

Rikash's aura had gone cold again. "I _think_," he said frostily, "That you would be better off talking to someone who knew what you were talking about. Why don't you scurry off to Jakaal and talk to _him_ about this magic you both seem so fascinated by?" Zircah stared at him, slightly offended. The bitterness in his voice surprised her.

But she thought she understood. Rikash hated feeling like a fool, and she had been asking him a serious question on a topic he knew next to nothing about and discerning far more from a situation than he had seen himself. Her hair gave a soft tinkle like a gently brushed wind chime as she took off, otherwise silently, withdrawing from his presence. As she flew away, it occurred to her that it might be a good idea to discuss her theory with Jakaal.

She left Rikash in the tree, staring at the horizon. Something nagged at the edge of his consciousness that he'd done the wrong thing, but he elbowed it roughly away. His gaze drifted down to the silvery fog that wound its way through the trees, as though the huge life forms were no more than reeds in the great silver stream. Rikash looked at this, disgusted by his sentimentality, for a long time. Then he too dropped off the branch and worked his way slowly, wearily, back to the Stormwing mews. Zircah was speaking to Jakaal in hushed tones when Rikash landed a little heavily outside the roost. Jakaal eyed him mockingly as he came in. Rikash felt the bitter cold settle over what might, loosely speaking, have been called his heart. He beat his wings once to settle at the far end of the roost from the rest of the Stormwings (Zircah's end). Sending one final withering glare Jakaal's way, Rikash wreathed himself in bitter jealousy and closed his eyes. Jakaal laughed at something quietly, and Zircah along with him. Rikash cowled his wings to cover his head rather than being seen openly snarling as he slept.

*

__

Zircah was in that place of clouds and rushing winds. Surrounded by a faintly greenish haze, she flew. She barely had to move her wings either to direct herself or to stay aloft. She felt utterly weightless, as she did when she soared on the thermals that abounded around Stonemaze.

Through the fog she saw Dunlath castle and the Long Lake. **Closer**, a voice whispered, and she obeyed, letting the dream take her where it would. It did so swiftly, so that she could barely tell where she was going. She knew it was south and west… and cold and damp. She was surprised to recognise the badger god, who often visited Weiryn, speaking to the mortal wild mage, Daine.

--Haven't you seen, in your travels, that you alone speak to all three kindreds: humans, immortals and beasts?--

__

Zircah frowned, even in her dream state. Alone? But she, too, had those talents. She felt herself withdrawing from events, back to the place of clouds. Shakith, blind white eyes wide, smiled. **Listen. Learn. You were given these abilities so that you might save your kind, but you are trapped within your form. Thus, she was born of two realms as you were, so that she might save her own kind, and the kind you both hold dear.** Zircah was back with the badger and Daine.

-Shape a bridge between kindreds. Find allies, my kit – not just among the People, but among humans and immortals.– _The badger god seemed to see Zircah and Shakith. She could feel the barest tingle of his amusement as he asked,_ -How do you deal with the Stormwings, may I ask?-

__

Daine's reply was muffled and warped, as though she was trying to speak with a pipe down her throat. Zircah was losing her grip on the Seeing. She clung to it, desperate for more information.

-…bound to the service of humans, so can Stormwings.-

__

Daine's next burble was angry. Zircah vaguely recognised the words 'Maura' and 'Rikash'. She wondered what the mortal was speaking of as she drifted away.

-They sound almost like real people, not monsters.-

Zircah opened her eyes with a start. She was back in the mews. Damp air clung to her, making her skin feel clammier than the cold sweat of Seeing usually did. She felt ill and light-headed. The rushing sound of the place of winds had followed her into the mortal realm as rain. The hastily built roof leaked something dreadful, allowing runnels onto several Stormwings including herself. She scowled and sidled closer than she would have liked to Rikash, whose wings still shielded his head. She was out of the rain, but she was _cold_, and there was a distinct aura of melancholy about the sleeping Rikash that pervaded Zircah's mind. Determinedly, she cut herself off from her magical senses and closed her eyes to concentrate on her Seeing.

So, Shakith wanted her to be an ally to this mortal chick, Daine? Only she wasn't mortal… she was of both realms, Zircah remembered. And the badger… what did the badger god have to do with this?

__

You were given these abilities so that you might save your kind.

Feeling confused and beset, Zircah fluffed her feathers and sank into an uneasy sleep. She dreamt of cages and of her queen.

*

A/N: ^^ At last I have the time to make a proper effort on this fic! I'm not particularly pleased with this chapter… it sort of ran itself into the ground. *grimace* Anyway, just a few comments to my wonderful, wonderful reviewers! ^^ I love you all ever so.

Um, first off… I'd like people to stop worrying about the death of Rikash. I have it under control. As I've mentioned to Kenta Divina, there are several ending that I have planned for this fic… I'll get you to vote on which you'd like when the time comes and you can visit my site (up soon, honest! *dies*) to read the alternate endings, or I'll just post all the alternate endings here anyways.

Also… Rikash and Zircah have no real special connection. Zircah just has a natural bond to all living creatures, y'know? And when one of them who is usually fairly open starts to fold in on himself, she feels him drawing away. Otay? ^^ No special bonds yet, people! *grin* And yes, Nogard, it is going to be a Zircah/Rikash. Sorry if you had higher hopes. *lol*


	10. Strange Days

Disclaimer: I own Zircah Bladewing and her background. Anything you saw in the Immortals belongs to Tamora Pierce.

A/N: I am back at school tomorrow and mother has restricted me to an hour a week for the net and drawing and writing and reading altogether. Yes, she is evil. *scowls* Anyway, I will try my hardest to keep this going at a respectable pace, but you can see what this hour a week will do to my creativity level. So… please be patient and extra kind in your reviews. *weeps*

Chapter Nine: Strange Days

The night's rain had slowed to a drizzle by morning, but the air was still thick with moisture. The hurroks in their stables were restless, as were the Stormwings who were crammed into their roost to keep out of the rain. Zircah awoke earlier than she would have liked to their complaints and whining, and the frustrated mutterings of Rikash very close to her ear. Apparently he was trying to plan a shift change. She had convinced him to move into the drip spot that had been her sleeping place by lifting the bladed edge of her wing to rest threateningly along the scar she had left on his stomach last time. He had moved fairly obligingly, cursing like a mortal soldier. However, his mutterings had resumed shortly, this time interspersed with oaths whenever water dripped down his neck. Zircah sat grinding her teeth for nearly an hour before the shrieks, whinges and mutterings became too much to bear.

Now she sat and watched the raindrops slide past outside her leafy shelter. She felt as restless as the hurroks, whose angry thoughts floated up to her occasionally from the stables below. She hadn't minded the rain's soothing rush in the early hours of the morning when no one else had been awake, but now that the entire flock was up and screeching, all she wanted was for the rain to stop so that she could go out on patrol. She would only have to deal with two Stormwings who were generally petrified of her rather than having to listen to dozens of them whining about the weather. Her head ached sharply and at the same time she felt distant from the pain, as though the Seeing had not yet finished entirely.

There was a sharp shriek from the Stormwing mews and a loud burst of obnoxious cackling. Zircah rolled her eyes and opened her wings, deciding that she was getting away from her idiotic flock mates, rain or no. She took to the sky, wishing Tristan would allow them to use magic. She could have cloaked herself in fire to burn off the moisture from the rain. However, despite her disdain for Tristan, she didn't want to risk being sent back into the Divine Realms before she could complete her purpose here. She bore the rain seeping in between her feathers to chill her skin and flapped her sodden wings harder. Her wings were strong, and she was much lighter of build than most Stormwings. The mist of rain didn't affect her flight as much as it would have others'.

As Zircah passed over the mining camp, she noticed the oddly military formation of the ogres. _Being counted,_ she thought sadly. It was not for humans, indeed, for any creature, to enslave another. She bared her teeth in anger as a soft-spoken male was viciously beaten. She could hear the shouted words of an overseer: "It isn't sick, it's gone! Where is it? WHICH WAY DID IT GO?"

The ogre cringed, but his lips didn't move again. Zircah could feel his distress, but she couldn't feel it herself. Instead, elation flooded her. _Find allies… not just among the People, but among humans and immortals_. An ogre had escaped from the camp. Her alliance would start here, by helping creatures she already felt for. Nothing else would be aloft today, she was sure. She opened her senses to the world around her and felt the tug of an ogre's consciousness at the limit of her range.

Surprised that the ogre had made it that far in a night, Zircah drifted surreptitiously in that direction, as though it was nothing more than an idle flight path because she had nothing better to do. She wove seemingly aimlessly through the cloudy sky, but she was tiring. She doubted that the mortals could even see her anymore, anyway, except as a vague, bird-like outline against the smoke-grey of the sky. As she drifted closer, she felt Maura's signature Gift several miles to the north of the ogre's signature. Zircah smiled. If asked, she was certain Maura would help her conceal the ogre's presence. She frowned as she sensed what felt like a basilisk nearby Maura.

Zircah flew faster, her wings clipping the crowns of several trees as the wind and worsening rain blew her off-course. She could sense the near exhaustion of the ogre as she gained on it, and the determination that kept her aching legs moving. As Zircah caught up to her the rain grew steadily heavier, masking the beating of her sodden wings but also obscuring her vision and making her flight even more erratic. She was nearly on top of the ogre when a blast of wind slammed her into a tree with all the grace of a mutant golem. She screeched in pain and tumbling top over tea-kettle to the unforgiving forest floor.

The ogre gave a cry of fear and surprise as Zircah crash-landed not ten feet from her. She stumbled and backed away from what she obviously perceived as a threat. Zircah tried to croak out a greeting but the ogre had already picked up a rock. "Liar Stormwing!" She yelled hoarsely. Zircah barely had time to get one wing up to ward off the chunk of granite before it embedded itself in her skull with enough force to brain her. Instead a sharp pain lanced through her already aching wings and she let out another screech of indignant pain as the ogre bent to pick up another rock.

"Stop! I've come to help you, not to hurt you!"

The ogre's face was hard with disbelief. "You lie." She said in half-learned Common. "You all lie! Ogres angry. We not like lies!" She raised the rock but her knees buckled as she heaved it forward and the throw went wide. The rock shattered against a nearby tree, showering Zircah with dust and chips of gravel. The ogre sank into a crouch, looking tired and miserable.

"I know they lied, but I truly want to help you. Shakith guides me, not those idiotic mortals." Zircah told her reassuringly as she righted herself clumsily. "My name is Zircah."

The ogre twitched her pointed ears. "How I know you not lie more?" She asked. Zircah sighed.

"You don't. Are you hurt?"

"Legs hurt. Back hurts. Feet hurt." The ogre listed her pains unashamedly. Zircah winced at the whip marks on the poor immortal's back. She extended her wings and her magic and set to work repairing the newest of the lashes. The older ones were healed over already, leaving cris-crossing scars across the aqua skin. Though she was tired, Zircah pushed her magic through the ogre's legs and feet to heal the cuts and bruises and ease the cramps there. Once done, she opened her eyes to find the ogre watching her carefully. "My name Iakoju." She said quietly after a while and bowed carefully, as though afraid she might break the Healing Zircah had wrought.

Zircah smiled tiredly. "You have until the rain clears before the flying patrols return, Iakoju, and those humans are too weak and lazy to search for you in this downpour." She gestured with a languid wing. "If we walk this way, we will come to friends of mine. They will help you." Iakoju regarded Zircah in solemn distrust for several moments and then nodded.

"We go this way." She agreed softly.

Zircah, relieved, started to walk reluctantly, knowing she couldn't fly in the rain as tired as she was now. She reached out for the basilisk near Maura, wondering what her mortal friend was doing in such strange company. _Basilisk! Do you travel with a human known as Maura?_

--_ I may. Name yourself. --_

Zircah shivered slightly at the icy mental voice. _I am Zircah Bladewing. Lady Maura knows me. I mean you no harm._ There was a lengthy pause.

__

-- Maura wishes to know where you are. --

I am coming with a friend. Please do not be alarmed when we arrive.

-- We will wait. --

By the time Zircah and Iakoju reached Maura, the Stormwing's taloned feet were aching abominably. After introducing Iakoju to Maura and greeting the basilisk Tkaa face to face, Zircah beat her wings several times to get herself to a thick, well-sheltered tree branch. Daine's body rested nearby, though her mind was clearly elsewhere. Zircah managed only the briefest of explanations before she dropped into an exhausted slumber.

__

Smoke rose from the tower in the valley, smoke that all the People and even the immortals avoided. Death came from that smoke as surely as from a bolt of lightning, and none dared risk passage through it. She dropped closer to it as storm clouds gathered above the valley, urged closer to the place of death by the angry rumbles of the same from above. As she neared, the rain began, but it burned her skin and made strange acidic hissings along her steel feathers. They sizzled ominously, and she found her wings were being eaten away. She plunged closer to the tower.

The scent of death grew more pungent and from the windows as the skies and earth trembled. Viscous scarlet liquid lapped over the sills of the tower windows, spewed from the cracks between the stones. The stone seemed to crumble, as though it was aging before her eyes. The tower top crumbled into dust and the scarlet poured from what remained of the stone. Somewhere she could hear Tristan and Ozorne laughing, but they were drowned out by the screams. Humans and People alike poured from Dunlath in a panic as the scarlet river engulfed the valley. Those caught by the red flood screamed horribly, holding up desiccated hands and arms to the skies as though pleading with the gods to save them. The red touched the lake and the water began to dry up. Fish bobbed to the surface as the scarlet tide swelled, drying the land as though every scrap of moisture was being sucked slowly from the valley. Animals screamed along with humans as their limb refused to obey them, collapsing in rotting, jelly-like heaps as the blood red liquid spread throughout the valley. The rotting sickness reached out its tendrils and the valley turned red, then brown and then, as she crashed to the ground, a dead uniform grey as the perfection that once was turned to nothing but dust…

The fear and anger that accompanied the vision wrenched her quite suddenly from sleep. Her eyes were squeezed tightly shut, her talons clamped so hard on the branch that the wood had given in and was crunching submissively between her claws. White spots flickered in the darkness in front of her eyes and she sagged, closing them again as she lost her balance and fell/floated to the ground with her wings outstretched. Iakoju was beside her, near the shelter that housed Daine's body. Maura was close by, whispering something to Tkaa as they stood by the shelter. She turned around from offering a small bag to Iakoju and grinned. Zircah blinked quickly until the spots had dissipated, folding her wings carefully. An inquiring cheep sounded from near her feet. She looked down to discover the dragon, Skysong. A smile flickered across her face with delight at the baby dragon.

"Dragonling, you look well since I last saw you." Zircah greeted Skysong, who trilled excitedly. The Stormwing's eyes crinkled as Skysong twined about her legs. Tkaa looked over one shoulder with interest.

"You have met Skysong somewhere before, Zircah?" He asked in a dry, reedy voice. Zircah nodded as she danced away from the dragon playfully.

"Yes. Her mother told me to care for her until Veralidaine came for her. It was only a day or so, but it was just after she was born, so I suppose she bonded to me a fair bit." Zircah's smile flattened slightly as she recalled that Rikash had been there with her. She hoped for the dragon's sake that Skysong hadn't bonded to the blond idiot at all. Maura looked interested, too.

"I didn't know you knew Kitten, Lady Zircah." She piped up.

"Only for a very short time, Maura." Zircah assured her. "I haven't had the chance to corrupt her proper-like yet."

The basilisk snorted in amusement. "For that we must be grateful. I can only imagine what her relatives would have to say, and none of it is pleasant."

Zircah grinned mockingly. "They're a bunch of old stick-in-the-muds anyway, aren't they, Kitten?" She asked, adopting Maura's pet name for the dragon. Kitten trilled and turned an amused bright blue. Tkaa sighed.

"The gods help you if they come to hear of this."

"Oh, leave be, Tkaa... you were saying that the dragons usually stay in their realm anyway, weren't you?" Maura interrupted. To Zircah, she added, "Tkaa's been teaching me about all sorts of things. Have a spice-drop?"

Zircah blinked at the sudden offer and at the bag that was held before her nose. She shrugged and opened her mouth so that Maura could pop one of the sweets inside. Being hand-less had its drawbacks. She savoured the strange but pleasant flavour of the mortal treat, rolling around in her mouth and resisting the urge to crunch the thing between her teeth.

"It's much more interesting than my lessons at home." Maura continued cheerfully.

Zircah was about to reply when she noticed the sudden reappearance of Daine's consciousness inside the empty body. "Veralidaine has returned." She commented softly. Kitten trotted inside the shelter as Maura and Tkaa peered inside the entrance. Maura grimaced in the dimness of evening and crawled inside the shelter.

"Oh dear. Uh - Daine, you, um, you shrank." She said haltingly from within the tent. Zircah heard a burst of squirrel chatter that sounded very rude and resisted the urge to smile. So Daine _was_ able to put her mind into that of an animal. _Zircah: ten thousand; Rikash: zero. Hah!_ Maura crawled out of the shelter hurriedly.

"She's changing... I can't look any more. Tell me when she's done." She said, clapping her hands over her eyes. Daine clambered out of the shelter.

"I'm done." She announced loudly, clearly pleased by this fact. Maura turned around and gasped.

"You're you! I mean, you were always you, but you were starting to look kind of... squirrel-ish."

"It is good you have returned. We have guests. Iakoju, this is Daine, the human Maura spoke of." Tkaa introduced the ogre. Iakoju nodded shyly. Daine's brows knit concernedly over her grey eyes. 

"Are you cold?" she asked kindly. "We have a horse blanket somewhere." She bent to pick up her bow from where it rested on the folded blanket and offered the cloth to Iakoju with a reassuring smile. Maura looked loftily to Tkaa.

"I _said_ Daine would welcome her." She said smugly. Zircah smiled, as yet unnoticed. Maura turned back to Daine to add, "Iakoju's our friend. She wants to help us get rid of Yolane and Tristan." Iakoju regarded Daine calmly, with none of the fear she had shown when she had first met Zircah and bowed, voicing her thanks in her soft, unobtrusive voice. Maura shook out the horse blanket and draped it around Iakoju's shoulders, tugging it into place with a series of gestures and clucks Zircah was sure she had learned from her nurse. "She's running away." She informed Daine needlessly.

The girl smiled, but the expression froze in a rictus of horror as she spotted Zircah at last. In a flash the bow was up and Daine was groping at her feet for arrows. Maura gave a cry of protest and lunged to tug the quiver out of Daine's reach. She was too slow, however, and Daine aimed her bow at Zircah, who was beginning to think about telling Shakith to bugger off and find a new prophet. She had had quite enough bows aimed at her in the past week, thankyou very much, and she didn't relish the ideas of pain and death at all.

"Don't move, Stormwing." Daine growled. Zircah sighed as Maura spoke too quickly for anyone to understand her in the hopes of defending Zircah.

"Don't shoot, Veralidaine - I'm a potential ally, too, though I certainly won't be if you insist on waving that bow in my face." She said calmly, a flutter of nervousness rushing through her stomach as she thought of the embarrassment of losing an eye or worse to this trigger-happy mortal child. Kitten trilled in protest, rising up on her hind legs in front of Zircah. Daine stared at the dragon in surprise.

"Kitten, get away." She ordered tersely. "What do you mean 'ally'?"

Zircah scowled. "I mean a person who is willing to help you with your plans, a friend, someone to rely upon when you cannot complete the required tasks yourself... are you getting the point, mortal, or do I have to repeat this a dozen more times?" Her temper and her tiredness was getting the better of her. "Put the bow down, for Mithros' sake. I'd like to have another chance at embarrassing the living hell out of Rikash before you embed that thing in my throat, you know." Daine blinked and then a smile tugged at the corner of her mouth. Anyone who was going to taunt the Stormwing lord was all right with her. She lowered the bow carefully.

"All right." She said. "You're Zircah, aren't you? The Stormwing from the other day. I don't trust you, but I'll put up with you and your foul --" She paused, frowned, and sniffed at the air suspiciously. Then an expression of surprise crossed her face and she exclaimed, "Hey! You don't smell!"

Zircah rolled her eyes at the heavens and at Tkaa. "Are all mortals this tactful?" She asked pointedly, causing Maura to giggle and Daine to blush. "I take care to bathe often rather than pollute the air with the stench of rotting flesh." She said snippily. Daine came closer, bow still held in her hands loosely, sniffing. Finally she shrugged and walked back near Iakoju, where she frowned and sniffed again.

"Are you eating something?" She asked curiously of them both. Iakoju smiled slightly as Zircah stuck out her tongue with the spice drop sitting on the end.

"Maura give me sweet." Iakoju said. Maura grinned sheepishly and blushed.

"Well, she looked so scared when I found her, and I remembered what you said, about people being mean to them and maybe if someone was nice..." She trailed off, pink with embarrassment. Zircah smiled slightly. _Wondrous... hatchlings like Maura make everything so much easier._ She shook her head good-naturedly as Daine offered her canteen somewhat reluctantly.

"Iakoju thinks some of the ogres will help us." Maura offered hopefully to Daine. The wild mage looked to Iakoju.

"Why?" She asked, and the aqua-skinned immortal scowled angrily.

"Stormwings and Tristan lie. They say, come through gate, we give you farms to keep, so we come. Only farms here are rock farms, under ground. We say, don't want mines, where are farms? Tristan say, you farm what we say farm." Iakoju explained, her hands clenching into fists. Zircah made a noise of disgust.

"He would, that bastard." She spat disdainfully. Iakoju nodded vehemently.

"Ogres are angry. They send me from valley to find kin-clans. Kin-clans come help, bash lying men on the head." She said matter-of-factly. Zircah muffled a snicker. What she wouldn't give to see that day.

She smiled slightly as talk continued, as Maura offered her half of the feif to the ogres. The gods certainly had faith in their messengers, to try to bring about such changes after so long. She grinned slightly. _Well, they're relying on me, for a start. That has to count for _something.

Daine turned to look at Zircah. "And you? Why are you trying to help us?"

Zircah shrugged. "I'm a Seer. I don't go by my orders from my leader, I go by my orders from Shakith. Let's say I'm very interested in the same thing you were sent here for." Daine scowled. There was that word again: sent. "And I hate Tristan and what he's done to this place." Zircah added with a sneer. "And what Yolane and Belden have done to Lady Maura. I must be becoming sentimental, but I'm truly vexed at all this... and at what I've Seen is coming." She added ominously, though she saw no need to explain her visions to the girl.

Daine nodded thoughtfully. "Hmm." She replied vaguely, drifting off to her pack to dig out parchment and an ink-brush. Zircah spent the rest of the evening in peace as Tkaa taught Maura yet more esoterics, wondering how to explain her absence to her flock. For surely she would have to return. She grimaced at the thought. Perhaps in a couple of days. A break from those morons would be nice.

*

One of 'those morons' was busy wondering where one of his best Stormwings had disappeared to for the whole day. Not only had darkness fallen, the weather had worsened considerably since she had left. Rikash wasn't _worried_ or anything - the gods knew that Zircah could take care of herself. It was just that this was weather that could have killed any number of other Stormwings and he was worried about her.

Of course, he would have been worried had any of his underlings disappeared, he reassured himself. After all, he would undoubtedly be reprimanded by Jokhun for losing a member of their flock. He frowned. Where in the Black God's realm could she be? Probably of communing with those damned tree-rats of hers. He snorted and elbowed someone harshly in the ribs. There was something good about having Bladewing nearby - no one dared come this close to this end of the roost. Now he had to struggle for breathing space. He scowled as the someone elbowed him back with a snarled, "Watch it, blondie!"

Rikash looked at Jakaal with death in his eyes, but toned down his glare when he realised that the stupid K'miri male might actually know something - namely, Zircah's whereabouts. He wondered how to best phrase the question and decided resignedly that no matter how it was said he was probably going to be taunted for it. "Jakaal, all the members of your flock are here, are they not?" He asked.

Jakaal quirked an eyebrow. He leaned forward and peered along the rail. "That's right." He drawled. "Looking for someone in particular, Moonsword?" Rikash gritted his teeth and imagined how Jakaal would look without all his limbs.

"Bladewing pulled a vanishing act this morning." He said, expertly offhand. "Just wondered if you'd had any disappearances."

Jakaal raised hs eyebrows. "She did, did she? Well. No... everyone's here so far as I can see. She'd have to be loopy to go flying in this weather. It's raining _hurroks_." He added with an amused smile. Rikash nodded and grinned uneasily. Stormwings and hurroks rarely got along. He hoped Zircah was having more luck with the rain.

*

Zircah's jaw was clenched in intense irritation as she half waddled, half skipped along a game trail that curled around both the mining and foresting camp. Bad enough that she had had to walk for miles before she found Tkaa and Maura yesterday, now she had to walk all the way to the western pass. She was in the middle of wishing very vehemently that she was back in the Stormwing mews when she noticed a faint call from one of the People.

__

What is it? She asked, a trace of annoyance in her tone. The call faded, discouraged by her snapping. A while later, she nearly crashed into Daine as the girl stopped and looked around, a frown on her face. Zircah could feel her speaking to someone, probably the creature that had called earlier. A dog raced out of the pines ahead of them and whined frantically. Zircah recognised one of Dunlath's hunting dogs.

As Daine conversed with the dog - named by the huntsman Prettyfoot - Zircah found that she could sense the entire pack of dogs calling for aid. Daine gave Tkaa a letter to deliver to the mage with the onion spell and then led them through the trees to where the dogs were gathered around a large pit. Zircah hopped up several branches into a tree so that she could see into the pit more easily and stifled a laugh at the sight of the filthy huntsman, Tait.

"Huntsman, you're in a fix." Daine called down to him. Tait looked startled. There were dark rings under his eyes.

"Laugh all ye like, girly, but get me out of here." He said tiredly, voice hoarse from all the yelling he must have done.

"I don't know," teased Daine. "May I ask if this was a wolf pit to start?"

Tait's weathered face grew dark with anger. "It was a lot smaller! And the trail-marks I put here t' tell me where the damned thing was got moved! If that was your doing-"

Daine looked affronted. "I haven't been next or nigh this spot, so don't raise your voice to me!" Zircah grinned at the mixed rage and chagrine that appeared on the huntsman's face as he realised she might leave him there. But the dog whined pitifully, though he had blocked Zircah out of fear, and Daine turned to Iakoju. "I have rope. Can you pull him up?"

Zircah cackled. "If she can't, I can." Tait looked up and yelped to see both an ogre and a Stormwing peering down on him. Maura looked over the edge and waved.

"It's all right, Tait, they're with me." She told him.

Tait's eyes near bulged out of his head. "Lady Maura? What kind of company are ye keepin' now?" He demanded in surprise. Maura scowled.

"Better company than is at home." She said cryptically.

"And what's that supposed to mean, miss?"

"Never mind. I'll tell you later."

Iakoju took the rope from Daine. "Man not too fat. I bring him up." She agreed.

"I'm not doing this for you, Tait. I'm doing for your dogs." Daine called.

"I don't care who ye do it fer, long as ye do it afore I turn grey!" Was the retort from the bottom of the smelly wolf-pit. The odour reached Zircah even from her branch.

"I'd make it easier, but the net over the valley detects even immortal magic." She said with a sneer. Iakoju wrapped the rope around her waist several times and dropped the rest of the rough coils into the pit for Tait to do the same.

"Haul away!" He yelled after a moment, tugging at the rope to be sure it was secured properly. Iakoju backed up so as to lift Tait smoothly rather than with the jolting of pulling the rope up with her hands and Tait cursed miserably as he slipped and slid while he tried to lessen the strain on the ogre by pushing himself up the side of the pit. The wolf-hounds surrounded the pit, eagerly awaiting the return of their master. The moment he was safely on the same level as them, they flung themselves at Tait with childish abandon, yipping joyfully and licking Tait's hands as he tried to pat them all.

"Have ye water? And food would be fair nice." He looked hungry, too. The dogs licked their chops at the mention of food and Tait brushed his hands roughly against their heads as they lay down around him, tongues lolled, watching their master with adoring eyes.

Maura gave him Daine's canteen. He swilled the first mouthful of water around and spat it back into the pit, then drained the rest of the canteen, giving a loud sigh of satisfaction. "Weiryn's Horn, I needed that." Zircah gave a start at the mention of the lesser god who had taken care of her for many years. Maura had already sliced some ham and cheese from Daine's rations, offering them to Tait without preamble. Prettyfoot's eyes followed the cheese as it went from his hand to his mouth. "Ye shouldn't be here. No offense meant." He added, nodding to Daine and somewhat more nervously to Zircah.

"Berate her all you like." Daine replied with a shrug. "If you can make her go home, it's more than I could do, _or_ that Stormwing lord." Zircah's fangs dug into her lip as she watched the sky through the trees. That Stormwing lord was probably trying to figure out where in Mithros' name she was. The best fighter in the flock didn't just disappear for no reason.

"The nobles don't care for the land or people, bringin' monsters to keep their servants in fear..." He trailed off at an indignant snort and a glare from Zircah.

"Watch it, ground-pounder." She sniffed. "This monster is in better shape than you are right now, and she doesn't take kindly to being insulted by two-leggers who smell worse than a month-old battlefield." Tait grimaced, tearing up his ham for his dogs. Daine watched him, a smile coming to her face.

"Don't care for more'n cheese just now. M' throat's that sore from bellowin'." He said defensively. Daine cut off more cheese from the wheel she carried with her and pulled two apples from her pack. She cut up the rest of her ham and divided it among Tait's dogs. "...kind of ye." The huntsman muttered after a while.

"They're good dogs. They really love you, you know." Daine replied, a faint blush coming to her cheeks. Tait grinned fondly as Prettyfoot rolled on his back in ecstasy at the gift of ham.

"I know. They could've left me, but they didn't. They run off a bear last night, when it wanted t' come a-callin'. Give a man a hand up?" He added to Iakoju, obviously not the sort of man who was going to be caught being sentimental if he could help it. "M' legs went to sleep, bein' cramped down there."

On his feet, Zircah smirked as he winced. He looked up at her, nodding grudgingly. "I need t' get this stink off me. Will ye wait so I can wash? I've clothes and such hid by a stream nearby. I came out with no plans to go back. Don't like what's happening in the castle these days."

"Go ahead. We'll wait for you." Daine told him with a nod. She looked up at Zircah. "Can you keep watch, please?" Zircah nodded and started hopping through the trees to rest in one near the stream she could hear bubbling through the undergrowth. A few minutes later, Tait and Iakoju appeared, the ogre supporting the human carefully despite the smell. Zircah scanned the skies. It was bright and hot, the perfect day for flying. She frowned, seeing the tiny silhouettes of Stormwings on the distant horizon. In the other direction were hurroks. She couldn't feel them yet - they weren't in her range, but they were coming closer. She sensed out tentatively with her magic and found Daine's mind clinging to that of an eagle. Hopefully the girl would return soon, because they were just leaving her range and the hurroks were getting closer. She could make out the up and down motion of their wings now.

When Tait had finished bathing they returned to Maura and Daine, who was leaning against a tree as though dozing. As Zircah glanced worriedly between the sky and the two-legger, a feather pattern appeared on the girl's skin, like traceries in wax. As she watched, the girl was slowly becoming smaller. Tait murmured several choice oaths under his breath before he remembered Maura was there.

"Weiryn..." He muttered. "What power does this lass have?" No one answered as a now bird-sized Daine became covered in tawny feathers and her nose started to lengthen into a beak. Several of the feathers that had grown had dropped off. Maura, apparently used to this by now, picked one up and smiled.

"They're pretty, aren't they?" She said to Iakoju. Her smile widened. "Tkaa says they line their nests with them, and they eat fish." She said, proud of her knowledge. Iakoju's eyes brightened.

"Fish." She said simply. "Fish are good to eat... Maura come with Iakoju, I teach you to fish." Kitten trilled at them and clawed her way up into Zircah's tree.

"I'll call you when Daine awakes." Zircah said. "Please keep out of sight, Maura." She added as she felt the hurroks tingle at the edge of her magical radar. "You too, Iakoju..."

"We will, Zircah." Maura chimed. The girl loved learning new things, doing simple everyday things that peasant children learned before Common. Zircah flicked a wing at them in parting. The dogs, lured by the idea of fish, galloped after them. Only Prettyfoot remained to keep Tait company. The huntsman sat by Daine-eagle and watched her, picking up one of the feathers she had shed and running it through his callused fingers. After a while, Cloud looked up at Zircah.

__

Look after Daine. She ordered. _I am going to graze near the stream while I have the chance._

You would trust a Stormwing to do this? Zircah sent, surprised by both the 'request' and by the pony's boldness. 

__

You are People. Cloud sent with the equine equivalent of a shrug. She trotted off through the trees after the dogs, Iakoju and Maura. Zircah raised her eyebrows and shook her head in bewilderment. There was an eagle screech from Daine and Zircah's attention snapped back to the ground in surprise. Tait had obviously jumped, for he was sitting very straight with both fists clenched. Daine/eagle closed her eyes and slowly became just Daine. Tait offered her the slightly crushed feather when she opened her eyes.

"Sorry. Didn't mean t' scare ye, lass. Ye lost one. Actually, you lost a few. Maura has one." He added, referring inanely to the feather in a half-hearted attempt to ignore the fact that he had just seen a girl become an eagle and return to human shape again.

Daine looked around the clearing. "Where is she?"

"Iakoju took her fishin'."

Daine looked to her dragon. "Kitten, get Maura and Iakoju. Hurroks are searching the valley – they're coming this way."

"I can get the hurroks to ignore us." Zircah told them. "But Stormwings are coming this way, too. We must find cover to avoid them."

Daine looked to the huntsman. "Is there cover around here?"

"The laurel bushes can hide Maura and the dragon. There's a willow by the stream for Iakoju and the pony. The dogs can go where they like – I don't think the hunters will care about them." Tait replied as he stood, stringing the highly polished longbow he carried with him. Iakoju and Maura came crashing through the bushes. As Daine explained to them where to hide, Zircah tried to figure out where she would be best hidden. She glided to the thick branches of an oak with particularly thick foliage and chopped her way into its centre.

__

Hurroks, wingsisters, wingbrothers! She called with her power. She could sense surprise in the hurroks.

-_- Zircahbladewing? –_ One demanded in disbelief. –_You are lost and we search for you. Blondone and Darkskin asked us. --_

You can't find me. Please, pass over as though there is nothing here. Ignore this entire area. It's very important, wingmates. You must, I beg of you.

--_ Very well. We will pass over, but there come more of your kind. –_ One hurrok, the male who had advised her to kill Tristan, said. _– We will chase them away? --_

Thankyou, wingbrother. Zircah said, relief showing even in her mental tone. As the Stormwings approached overhead, Zircah could sense Rikash, Jakaal, Ludahn and the two that had attached themselves to the brunette, from Jakaal's flock. Screams and snarls and the hoarse, deep-throated whinnies of the hurroks exploded from above her head. The Stormwings shrieked insults at the horse-hawks before making their escape. Rikash was the last to go. Zircah stole into the mind of Flicker, sitting in a tree, and watched them go. _My thanks, hurroks._ She whispered again. The immortals flew around their area carefully for a further half-hour, carefully combing the forest and ignoring whatever they could see. When they finally left, Zircah breathed a sigh of relief and dropped out of the oak tree into the darkness. The basilisk had returned.

When Daine had finished talking with him, she spoke. "I fear I am being searched for as well. I will speak to Tkaa on my rounds if I sense him. Tell me if there is anything you require." She said. Maura looked regretful. To cheer her up, Zircah rolled her eyes and said with exaggerated vanity, "You know how Lord Rikash worries about us girls when we're out on our own, Lady Maura. It's like we can't disembowel things on our own!"

"Ewww!" Maura cried, making a disgusted face and giggling hysterically. Zircah waved a wing, danced away from Kitten and grinned at everyone.

"I won't betray you, Veralidaine, don't worry." She promised. Then she took to the sky in a flash of silver wings and dark brown hair.

***

A/N: RIGHT! *dead* By Mithros, this chapter was getting so long I thought I had best cut it off before it spiralled out of control! OO;; This was half a page of dot points… I had half a page more. =S I'll try to update as often as possible, but I dinna think I can promise anything. I hope I've characterised everyone all right. Please review and tell me what I got wrong! ;P


	11. Feeding Weakness

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you've seen in _The Immortals_. I do, however, own everything else, most notably Zircah Bladewing, Qur'an, Jakaal, and the extrapolated sections of this text.

A/N: Better be ready to read this one – it's LONG. Oh. And close your eyes, Wyrren. :( I was very tempted to put the famous "Why do you plague me?" in this chapter. I did not. I do not plagiarise. Go me. :P

Chapter Ten: Feeding Weakness

"He's _what?_" Zircah raged. Qur'an shrugged nervously, green eyes bright with fear. The male's strangely blue-black hair was bound in a warrior's queue at the nape of his neck. His normally pale skin was even paler as he tried to subtly edge away from the plainly furious female in front of him.

"Lord Rikash transferred those at the North Fortress to the South Fortress and vice versa... he thought we would be more likely to pay attention to unfamiliar territory." Qur'an repeated, plainly confused. "If you don't mind my asking, Lady Zircah, why weren't you informed?"

Zircah liked Qur'an. He was polite, often to the point of reverence, quiet and clever. However, right at this moment she was facing a long flight in a hurry and was not feeling particularly patient. "Because I was half dead in the middle of a forest, you plebeian buffoon!" She lied in a low snarl. Qur'an cringed timidly away from her, luminous eyes closing as he anticipated a blow. There was a rush of wind as Zircah took off, swearing more filthily than anyone Qur'an had ever heard. He peered after her into the sky and squinted as the sun's rays reflected with dazzling beauty to leave purple and bright green sunspots in the centre of his field of vision.

Several hours later she was nearly at the Southern Fort, feeling very tired and rather pissed off. Though joyously hailed by several of the hurroks who had sustained injury in their clash with Rikash's posse, no one else seemed to notice her arrival. She ignored the hurroks as politely as possible in order to conserve every ounce of her fury for the Stormwing who had made it necessary for her to fly for four wasted hours.

She could sense Stormwings in the mews, those who did not yet have to patrol the southern end of the valley. As she passed over the hurrok sables, she plunged out of the sky, swooping down into the roost and making those waiting inside shriek with surprise. Zircah looked around angrily, but the only blond she found in the structure was a female from Jakaal's flock. _Oh, fantastic. I hurry back so he won't go mad fretting, and the blond bird-brain isn't even here!_

"Lady Zircah! Where have _you been?" Jakaal's voice was demanding. Zircah looked into the liquid black eyes and felt the rage drain from her as though somewhere a switch had been flicked. Suddenly she was just tired._

"I... went looking for the ogre in the rain and I Saw... I crashed, and the trance lasted a long time..." She lied, stomach twisting.

"Moonsword sent the hurroks to look for you..." he winced at the noise the horse-like immortals were making. "They're been kicking up that racket for _hours_."

_-- We haven't. -- A hurrok retorted. Zircah smiled and quieted them with her mind. "They could sense me coming."_

"Why couldn't they find you while you were in the forest?" Jakaal asked curiously.

"Actually, that's more likely than it's not." Zircah fibbed inanely. "I was unconscious for a start, and melded with Shakith because She gives me the Sight... you understand?" Jakaal shrugged and nodded. Zircah congratulated herself on the speed and believability of her fabrication.

"A good thing you're back," he said. "I've been promoted to Moonsword's little helper. The less time I spend around him the better."

Zircah grinned wearily. "Where is bone-head, anyway? I have yet to mock him for running from the hurroks."

"Gone on an errand for the mage... something about a Captain Blackthorn." Jakaal shrugged. "He mightn't come back at all, if we're lucky."

"Yes." Zircah agreed, slightly deflated. For some reason she had really wanted to make sure that he knew she was _really vexed with him. The hurroks clamoured for her attention and she gave way to another tired smile. "I'm going to see the hurroks. Then I'm going to sleep. If anyone has a problem, tell them I can see that they die much less painfully when I wake up of my own will than if they try to get me up beforehand."_

Jakaal grinned a touch nervously. "Right."

Zircah gifted him with the most charming smile she could muster and walked to the stables rather than risk humiliation in trying to use her all but lifeless wings. Thr hurroks whinnied greetings as well as assailing her mind with news of all she had missed. A mare butted gently at her shoulder to get her attention.

_-- This place reeks of that mortal's magic, and the Gift of the others. Two days now has the scent of death wafted upon the breeze. Sister, something is happening, and we cannot prevent it. Nor can we protect ourselves, -- she added, clawing at her collar emphatically. Zircah nodded._

_I am trying, she sent sadly. __I won't let death come easy upon you - after all, you have yet to have your way with the Gifted mortals. And we would not want them to escape the punishment they so richly deserve, now, would we? The hurroks neighed their amusement. Zircah propelled herself up into the rafters, careful not to clip the thatching with her wings. __Wake me if someone comes._

_-- We will. -- The mare promised. Zircah's head dropped forward, the feathers in her hair a-jangle. She slept._

***

"BLADEWING!"

Zircah opened her eyes instantly and swore at the proximity of Rikash Moonsword. His green eyes glittered darkly with fury, his hair hung in grimy golden rats tails about his face. The bleached bones that adorned it glistened starkly. He looked as though he, too, had flown many miles to be disappointed.

"Where have _you_ been?" They demanded acidly at the same moment, glaring at each other furiously as though to demand the other explain first. For perhaps the first time in history, Zircah relented first.

"I was unconscious in the middle of a forest." She snapped, tossing her head to hide a yawn. Rikash's expression softened ever so slightly, enough for her to give him a pointed look.

"I was discussing and reviewing strategy with Captain Blackthorn, the leader of mortal infantry Tristan's hired..." Rikash informed her briskly, imitating her haughty manner with some of his old annoying mimicry. "He doesn't seem pleased to be working with mages, let alone immortals." He gave her a quick, searching look. "What happened to you that you were unconscious so long? I would have expected you to waken sooner than others..."

"I Saw." Zircah replied flatly, inviting no further questions on the subject. Rikash got the point and changed the topic of conversation.

"Blackthorn wants us to harry troops that are being sent here from the south. And several will guard supplies and act as sentries for him..." Rikash frowned, looking for all the world like a troubled tax-payer with a headache. He straightened and began to tell her their strategy from the beginning, imitating what must have been Blackthorn's rather toffy accent. "A group of harriers will be dispatched to wait for the Tortallan infantry. A minimal amount of out Stormwings are to act as sentries for Blackthorn. A third of those remaining will patrol the valley with the hurroks as usual, while the rest of the Stormwings will carry out irregular strikes on the mages grouped at the Western Pass."

Zircah's lips were pursed in disapproval. "Still more fighting... are we not harriers only? What we gain here is publicity and sustenance, but it will be far less than that if many among our number are killed in our efforts!" She scolded. Rikash nodded, a strange expression in his eyes.

"I know. I'm not exactly thrilled about it, myself. And, do you want to know the worst part? They have no contingency plan."

"They _what?" Zircah couldn't believe her ears._

"You heard. This bloodrain Tristan's devised will cause enough devastation, but not a one of them has considered the consequences of any of this going wrong."

"Bloodrain?" The name made icy fingers run down her spine. Rikash looked disgusted.

"Some potion they've made... they're going to put it in the lake and hope it carries downstream to the Tortallan forces that are on their way. Everything that uses the lake or river water will rot."

"No... they _can't..." Zircah reeled with shock and horror. "The creatures of the valley... the plants, the People!" Rikash had never seen Zircah quite so unnerved. It worried him. It made him feel as though he should be even more worried than he already was. What sort of idiots had no contingency plan, anyway? And the bloodrain... he feared for Maura's safety, but bit his tongue before mentioning it aloud. It couldn't help matters, and he could be certain that the child got the message. He watched as Zircah gathered herself slowly, a slight smirk forming on his face as her usual indifference reshaped her features; ice-smooth and deadly._

"Well, I suppose you ought to speak to everyone else, and those at the North Fort." She said calmly. Rikash's smirk widened.

"Ten steps ahead of you. Jakaal conveniently forgot to mention you were back until after I'd informed everyone and sent the harriers on their way. I've organised groups already - you get to carry out attacks on the mages with me."

Zircah was briefly astonished that he had managed to think this far ahead. Bowing her head, she growled, "What did you wake _me for, then?" Rikash merely smiled briefly, shrugged, and dropped to glide smoothly out of the hurrok stables, leaving Zircah to talk sulky threats with the hurroks._

***

It was past dawn the next day and Zircah was closing uneasily on the Western Pass, as far as her patrol would allow her. Rikash would summon her for their surprise attacks on those on the other side of the barrier, but she still had no idea of what _Daine needed her to do. It was with considerable relief that she felt Tkaa at the edge of her mind's reach._ Basilisk! Where are you? Is Veralidaine near?__

_-- Zircah? -- The basilisk sounded surprised. __-- We are beyond the barrier. Quickmunch, a marmot, is acting as a vessel for Daine's mind. --_

_I cannot come there in person. Please ask Daine what I am to do. Swiftly she relayed all the plans she had been told, and was surprised to learn that Daine had learned of the bloodrain, herself. Struck by an idea, she filtered through the panoply of mind signatures until she found Daine's and tried to speak to her directly. __Daine? She felt surprise and a marmot's shocked squeak._

_Zircah?__ Daine ventured cautiously. _Why can you speak to me? The other Stormwings couldn't...__

_I have the same magic as you do. Tell me your plans so that I may lay my own and actually be of some use to you. Zircah could only spend so long in this area before someone became suspicious._

_Tkaa is going to the South Fort with Maura, Tait and the dogs to kick up a fuss. Iakoju will be going back to the mining camp to make her people rebel, along with the help of the wolves. Make sure you stay out of Maura's way, if you're near the south... the smoke might cause trouble for you in the air._

Zircah's lips curled back in an amused grin, flashing silver teeth to the world at large. _And you, dearie?___

_I'm going to destroy the barrier with Kitten._

_Good. It's very annoying. When do the fireworks start?_

_Three hours past dawn._

_Ooh, goodie. You're prepared to deal with the mages, Stormwings and hurroks, I hope? There are roughly two dozen Stormwings at either end of the valley, only half a dozen hurroks in the south. I'll be in the south, so I'll tell the hurroks to be as disobedient as possible if the mages call on them for transport. I can probably keep an eye on Tkaa, Maura and Tait and let the basilisk know what his best options would be._

_Great. Daine sounded tired. __Thank you, Zircah._

_Oh, don't go soppy on me! Zircah complained. _Keep Skysong safe. I must continue my patrol. _To Tkaa she added, __Tell__ the mages to expect Stormwing attack. One thing, though... make sure none of them hit me!_

_-- Something tells me you would not allow them to do so in the first place. -- He answered wryly._

_Someone's a clever lizard, then, isn't he? She retorted snidely before her contact with the group faded. "Graveyard Hag's luck on us all." She muttered to herself._

It was a long, boring glide back to the South Fort, but she did pass Rikash, Jakaal and Aveil on her way. Rikash rolled lazily in greeting. Zircah nodded curtly in return and veered closer.

"No plans yet, Moonsword?" She asked in a polite drawl. Rikash shook his head, braids a-clatter.

"We're going with dusk, or when those cloud banks move over through the pass." He replied. Zircah nodded again and banked to get back on her original heading. It was a good idea. They could fly above the clouds until they were right on top of the mages and then drop from the skies loosing bolts of magic. The strongest among them could carry rocks or metal spikes to shower the mages with. Zircah realised belatedly that she was planning for the wrong side. She spent the next hour or so wondering how to warn the mages. As she passed over a small clearing filled with voles and rodent-folk (who scattered as soon as they felt her shadow) she smiled. The marmot. Quickmunch could point in the direction they were coming from, and the mages would trust her because of her affiliation with Daine. It would all depend on timing, though... timing and how high up Rikash planned to lead them above the clouds before they dropped. She frowned, circling the Stormwing roost thoughtfully. Late afternoon, and a light breeze from the east... it would be dusk by the time the cloudbank made it to the Western Pass. She grit her teeth as she dropped to land in the roost and discovered several new Stormwings who had obviously just arrived.

"Who are you?" She demanded. One of them, a male with gingerish stubble, glared at her.

"Who are _you_?" He retorted. Zircah's face became as cold as the gaze of an ice statue.

"Watch your tongue, stranger, or I will cut it out for you. I am Zircah Bladewing, highest ranking Stormwing in Stone Tree nation." She did not bother to exclude Jokhun, nor Rikash from this statement. "Name yourselves."

They did: Marit, Leckar and Indor of Mortal Fear. Leckar was as stupid as Indor was beautiful. Marit was quite sweet for a Stormwing, but had a nasty collection of battle scars.  Her feathers were notched harshly from what Zircah assumed to be near unchallenged defeat. She looked down her nose at them. "I suppose Ozorne has sent you to whine at us for his opals?" She asked icily. Indor nodded sharply, a derisive smirk lighting pale violet eyes.

"Go find something to do." Zircah told the trio contemptuously. "I hold no interest in the whining of a mortal mage." She glared at them until they went away.

*

The cry came up from outside the mews, taken up by Rikash and Jakaal alike. All looked forward to revenge on the mage with the onion spell. Zircah fluffed her feathers and settled them again, spreading her wings with an evil smile affixed to her face. She felt sick. She hoped Quickmunch could reach the mages with a message before they reached the Western Pass.

She took to the sky with a loud whoop full of affected bloodlust, soaring swiftly to her place at the front of the flock. She was astonished to see that many of her flock mates already held large chunks of rock, the heads of flails and maces and, indeed, swords. Her surprise faded when she asked about their apparent intelligence and was informed that Rikash had come up with this, too.

You must be pleased with yourself, to have come up with all of this without me." She told him. Rikash rolled his eyes.

"Too weak to carry something yourself, Bladewing?" He retorted good-naturedly. He was rewarded with an indignant shriek and Zircah plucking _him_ out of the air. Ten minutes later she was regretting the effort as her wings warned her with stabs of pain between numbness that she was never to use them again. The flock flew in silent anticipation and a touch of fear. Several of those most eager to battle had, in fact, dropped back to fly in the lee of their comrades.

To take her mind off the pain, she quested out ahead of them, wondering how far away Quickmunch was. As she neared the pass, she reached frantically after every spark of life, but it was not until they had nearly reached the cloud bank that the tendril of awareness touched Quickmunch.

_Daine? The marmot inquired, nose working overtime. __No, you feel different._

_I am Zircah, a friend of Daine's. I need you to find the tall mage and lift a paw to the sky until he understands we are coming._

_How will I know when he understands? The marmot grumbled as she darted out of her burrow and began a cautious descent to the place where the mortals were camped._

_I'll stay with you, Zircah promised. Quickmunch seemed to accept this, for she fell silent and made her scurrying way to where the stork man stood. Numair had seen her coming and crouched as Zircah prompted Quickmunch to bark in greeting._

"Daine?" Numair asked, concern in his deep voice. Quickmunch shook her head. "Quickmunch, then?"

The marmot nodded stiffly and pointed emphatically at the sky. Numair glanced up at the clouds and back at the marmot, puzzled. "Rain?" He guessed. Quickmunch squawked in annoyance and pointed again. A look of dawning realisation came over the mage's face and he muttered, "Are the Stormwings on the way?" Quickmunch barked again. He thanked her, gave her the rest of the biscuit he had been eating, and hurried away to speak with the other twoleggers.

_My thanks, Quickmunch.__ You may wish to stay here, as I might need your help again soon._

_Better to be in a safe burrow and have to dash. The marmot decided as she finished off the biscuit. Zircah left the marmot on her way back to her burrow. She steadied her flight – seeing through the marmot's eyes as well as her own had made her clumsy in the air. She flapped her tired wings once, twice, and glided through the dampness of the clouds. She hoped this would work._

Zircah couldn't see whether the soldiers were prepared or not as they waited in the clouds. She stifled a cough as she breathed the clouds through her mouth. They had been strictly warned not to use any active magic until they were very obviously there, but what she wouldn't have given to use a filtering spell of some sort to make it easier to breathe.

Rikash had divided them into groups of four. They would plunge out of the clouds in waves, drop their baggage and retreat to rearm themselves or use magic from the clouds. She heard a muffled "Go!" from Rikash and nothing until yells filtered through the stifling layer of clouds. Zircah plunged, damp hair plastered in a black and silver shield to her back and down her breasts. She let out a scream of challenge in place of the glee that struggled to escape. The phalanx of soldiers stood at attention with their shields and weapons high. A glimmering barrier of black and violet magic spread above the heads of the soldiers. Already the stones and blades of the Stormwings were collecting on the barrier, some sliding across its surface to clatter to the bare ground.

Archers in the trees let fly and a Stormwing screamed as he dropped into the barrier. It flickered as he struggled, and he sank slowly through, where the waiting soldiers made quick work of him. Enraged despite herself that one of their number had been slain, Zircah raised her wings and struck the shield with bolts of green magic. Birds that should have been scared away by the battle streamed from the trees at her inadvertent demand for assistance, flying in a thick, confusing swarm about the soldiers. Still the archers shot and several more Stormwings spiralled down to slam into the ground. A tall knight raised a hand and added his own magic to the barrier, and Rikash yelled an order to retreat and the red-laced gold of regular Stormwing magic was reflected back at them, ripping past (and through) their number in a searing wave. They wheeled and passed through the barrier, cursing blackly as the soldiers cheered.

They settled in the trees near a stream, charred, sooty and annoyed. Several had arrow wounds, others burns. Zircah looked around her with a sigh. Rikash landed on the branch above her and she scowled. "I suppose you want everyone Healed?" She demanded. Rikash shook her head.

"I thought you used up too much of your energy when you Healed other Stormwings?" He replied, eyebrows raised. "I've no death wish, to force you to Heal as Jokhun does." He looked around at the flock. "However, if you can, it would help our next assault greatly." He shrugged as though it did not matter greatly.

Zircah stared at him in surprise and looked around at her flock mates. A slow anger built at the number of their wounded because of Tristan's orders. "Well, there aren't _so_ many…" She muttered to herself. "…I suppose it would hurt to Heal _some_ of them…" She dropped to where a Stormwing was leaning heavily against a tree trunk and started work.

They kept the mages awake all night, attacking from the sky, from the trees and scorching the ground with their magic. Quickmunch could only help so much at night, so several times the company of soldiers was caught off-guard. By morning, Zircah was exhausted from both her efforts at play-fighting and from Healing those less able than herself between assaults. Finally, when the darkness was fading and the clouds were gone, they flew back to the south fort. Zircah tried to sleep, but she was far too tired and jumpy to let her mind relax. Rikash left the mews an hour after dawn, evidently sick of being around the fitfully sleeping Stormwings. Zircah followed soon after, circling the fort and grinning to herself as she sensed Tkaa approaching the northern gate. Flying above, she could easily see the basilisk, along with the two humans and the pack of dogs.

_You'll need better cover than that once the others are on the wings, basilisk, no matter how stupid you think they are! She taunted. Tkaa soon found her in the sky and said something to his companions. They moved out of sight._

_How will you get the Stormwings to gather near the store rooms so that Maura and Tait may do some damage to them? Tkaa inquired._

_You'll have to be the bait, dear basilisk. I've no ingenious ideas for this battle. What does Maura need me to do? There was a pause._

_She wants you to get your friends all around the storerooms, at the windows if you must._

Zircah frowned as she circled the fortress. _Has Tait a bow? Or do you plan to take out many with your stone song, basilisk? Foreboding flooded her briefly in a choking wave of grief and fear._

_Maura says to trust her._

_I hate it when people say that. It's even worse than saying "It's can't get any worse." Zircah complained. __It just makes the gods determined to prove you wrong… She looked around surreptitiously as a bell rang for the second hour. _You need to enter the fortress soon, Tkaa. The Stormwings will fly soon.__

_ We are working on it. Tkaa answered enigmatically. Zircah left them to it, choosing to wait a while before she shook her flock mates out of the mews. After a night such as they had had, she wasn't going to risk her neck unnecessarily. In blind, sleepy grumpiness, one of them might get lucky._

She spotted Rikash working his way back to the fortress, feathers glinting in the morning light. She drifted lazily toward him, but did not even receive a glance until she rolled purposefully in the air. He looked at her tiredly and made a slight motion with one of his talons. He looked about as exhausted as she felt.

"Missing your beauty sleep, Moonsword?" She teased. Rikash's lips tightened. He made a noncommittal grunt.

"Are the others awake yet?" His speech was slightly slurry. Zircah hid a smile. He really _was_ tired.

"No. I didn't care to wake them and have thirty irritable Stormwings leap for my throat." She sniffed, tossing her hair. "Something tells me they'll wake up soon, though." She ignored the blonde's puzzled look and set a glide for the mews.

Rikash set about waking everyone up, leaving Zircah free to prod Tkaa, Maura and Tait into action. _We'll be in the air soon. Tkaa, you'd best tell Maura to find something to set alight!_

_She already has. Follow the screams to the store rooms and surround the building. It will sound as though I am inside. Tell your people to… er, man the windows._

_Shall do. Zircah affirmed cheerfully. She was more than happy to destroy Tristan's plans. _Be safe, and Graveyard Hag's luck.__

_Now why is that not reassuring? Tkaa pondered. Zircah stifled a giggle, earning herself a strange look or two. Rikash had just sent half a dozen Stormwings off on their shortened patrols when a panic-stricken boy skidded to a halt outside the mews._

"B-basilisk in the fortress!" he cried, doubled over. "The captain says – to deal with it!"

Rikash made a sound of annoyance. "How in Mithros' name did it get here? No matter. Let's go kill it. Then we can go back to sleep." This was met with a weary murmur of approval as they took to the sky. Jakaal was the first into the air after Rikash, while Zircah hung back, afraid for a reason she didn't know. As she rose into the air, she heard the unearthly rumble of a stone song. Yells followed it, and the Stormwings around her surged forward to attack the other immortal. Tkaa dropped two of the Mortal Fear Stormwings, leaving Leckar to shriek in rage alone. The stone Stormwings crashed down atop the barracks, destroying the log walls as they shattered. Tkaa hissed something foul in his own language and galloped across a small square to leap and slam through the thatched roof of a large building. Zircah recognised her cue.

"The windows!" She screamed, loud enough for half the valley to hear. "Cast through the windows!" Silver wings of a dozen Stormwings tilted to drop down to the windows of what was apparently a store room. Several things happened at once.

The doors to the store room burst open and Rikash yelled in surprise as Maura tore out of the building, Tait and a pack of dogs hot on her heels. Wisps of smoke trailed them as they dove for cover.

A sound like the biggest bell in history rocked the valley as Numair struck the Barrier with his Gift.

And Zircah was thrown top over tea-kettle through the air as the store room exploded in an immense ball of fire and think, choking black smoke.

She shrieked in exhilaration, calling orders before Rikash could think of them to send hurrok and Stormwing alike for the aid of the mages. She ignored the ash that clung to her in favour of calling to the hurroks and asking them to be as obstinate for the mages as possible.

And then a horrible feeling overtook her. Her guts twisted themselves into knots as a strange silence filled her ears. Suddenly she couldn't breathe. The black smoke still billowed; there was no hope of her seeing the ground. But she didn't want to see it. She didn't want to see what she already knew would lie there. She didn't need to see the burnt and blackened bodies to know.

"Bladewing! Bladewing, you have to manage the hurroks!" Rikash was yelling for her. He stopped abruptly in mid-order as she turned dead eyes on him, a look of repressed horror coming over his face. "…what-?"

The strange silence had not ended. She heard the words spoken in a calm voice she could not believe was her own. "He's dead." It said, so softly Rikash could barely understand in the midst of the chaos. "Jakaal is dead."

*

The rest of the battle passed in a blur, for she ignored it all. She flew away from it, as deep as she could into the forest. The People reached out for her mind, enveloping her in their sensible reassurance that all was not lost. Alone and yet not in the woods, she began to cry.

*

A shadow fell across her and the tingle of an empathic mind reached weakly for her own. She looked up to see a silhouette outlined by bright silver against the sun. As she turned her tear-stained face from the other Stormwing in shame, Rikash descended to land near her. His weight made the branch rock.

"What do you want, Moonsword?" She tried to demand, but her voice was rough and hoarse with grief. He cleared his throat, plainly uncomfortable, and looked at the ground.

"I came to find you." He answered, voice smooth and yet slightly ashamed. "I tire of this battle; we fly to Carthak so the Emperor may return us. Tristan's battle cannot be won."

"He will not miss one Stormwing, no more than he will miss those who died. Leave me." Her throat closed over and she made a choked sound in her throat. Rikash looked back at her, green eyes striving to catch hers.

"Will you think me cold if I say that I will not miss him?" He asked her softly. "I do not, and cannot grieve as you do, you who is connected to all things."

"Prophetic words, Moonsword. Perhaps you were meant to lead in this, not I." Zircah answered dully, silently hurt by the frankness of his statement. "If that is so, lead well… and leave me be."

"I will not." Rikash answered with steel in his voice. "However, I _shall_ blame our lateness on you, Bladewing." The attempt at levity was lost on her.

"Do as you will, Moonsword, but let me be." Zircah snarled, fed up with the blond male. She sank her fangs through her lip to hold back a sob of frustration, spat the blood at him to make her point. Rikash did not so much as flinch, allowing the silver liquid to run down his chest. Zircah looked away, furious with both him and herself.

_Good. Rikash thought approvingly. _Be angry, be murderous, go kill something, but for the gods' sakes, don't be lost.__

_Why cannot he just leave me alone? Zircah raged inside her own head. _Does the pompous idiot not understand?_ She scarcely noticed the hopelessness slowly evaporating in the heat of her fury._ I will follow to Carthak and to the Divine Realms when I am prepared! It is not as though he must watch over me as though I am some pitiable invalid!__

Rikash had returned to the higher branches of the elm, deciding that if Zircah _did_ try to kill him, he wanted to have some more room to work with._ Not that it would matter much, really, he thought ruefully, eyeing the scar that marked his chest. He heard a sudden rush of wings from behind him and spun, wings up to block an attack. Instead Zircah glared at him._

"Well? Are we going back to Stonemaze or not?" She demanded icily. Rikash lowered his wings slightly in surprise.

"Then… you are coming with me?" He asked, strangely reassured by the familiar cold gleam of irritation in her eyes.

"No." She replied sarcastically. "I'm going the other way to escape your idiocy. How in the Goddess' name would you idiots survive without me? And Shakith is not finished with me yet. Do not think yourself so high that it is _you_ I return for, Moonsword, for the Goddess of Seers is far above any priority you might hold."

Rikash only grinned. "Nice to have you back, Bladewing. Must we delay further for you to farewell your equine friends, or may we proceed?" He nodded towards the few surviving hurroks on the horizon. Zircah turned, flipped her tail at him and flew off, back to where the Stormwings were milling. Rikash followed, shaking his head, a grin still in place. _Now for the mages._

*

[A/N: ARGH! IT JUST WON'T END! T_T]

"Lord Rikash!" The flock slowed as Rikash looked down at Daine. He sneered with displeasure at the crossbow aimed at him for the second time. There was a crackle of mage fire as Numair sent a spell Tristan's way.

"I should have seen it would come to this," he observed with wry good humour laced with steel. "What do you want?"

Zircah noted Daine's nervousness. _I will stop them from killing you if I can. She informed the girl dourly. Daine gulped._

"I'd like to stop this bloodshed, I think." She said, and cleared her throat to banish the tremble of anxiety. "You'n me have no quarrel here – not really. We don't like each other, but you can't go killing everyone you don't like. Isn't that so?"

It was very hard for Rikash to disagree outright while in Daine's sights. "Your rustic philosophy amuses me. Go on."

"Kill the ground-pounding bitch!" Ludahn gasped eagerly. She was rewarded with a look of venom from Zircah and a harsh command to silence from Rikash.

"Maybe you've heard of my aim." Daine said, her voice soft. "I don't miss often. I put out Queen Zhaneh Bitterclaws' eye, in case you hadn't heard. That was before she pushed me into killing her."

"But that shot was made with a longbow." Rikash pointed out calmly, as though he were still considering attempting to slay her. Maura would never forgive him. And there was a queer cold spot on his back that told him Zircah might not like him very much if he killed this girl. Zircah very often _did_ kill everyone she didn't like.

"I'm as good with a crossbow. At this range, it's like shooting fish in a barrel. I'm willing to negotiate, though. Since you're a friend of Maura's."

_Clever girl to exploit his weaknesses like that, Zircah approved silkily. A smile tugged at Daine's mouth._

"You boast! Crossbows have no range, fifty feet at best. Don't they?" It was Leckar of Mortal Fear. Zircah nearly fell out of the sky, so amused was she at his stupidity. Rikash gave a theatrical sigh and shrugged at Daine.

"He's new from the Divine Realms. He thinks humans run screaming at the sight of us." His bland expression just begged the girl to prove Leckar wrong. There was a flit, a _chink_ and Daine's bow was redrawn again as one of Leckar's feathers hit the water of the lake.

"I've a two hundred yard range on this. Care to try me?"

Rikash watched Daine for a long time. Zircah could tell he was struggling with another grin. "I am not as old as Zhaneh Bitterclaws was – not as crafty or as powerful –" Zircah snorted. "-but I believe I may be wiser. Let's go, my friends. We must tell the emperor to expect no more Dunlath opals." He shook his head as they prepared to fly south. "I suppose we're both losing our minds. Please tell Maura I said goodbye and good luck."

_From me, also. Zircah added. Rikash glided to get himself moving, then turned south. Zircah moved to follow when Ludahn shrieked "No!" and toward Daine, wings carefully angled to blind the archer. Automatically Zircah pressed her mind to Daine's. _Use my eyes_. She insisted. Daine's aim was barely even unsteady, despite the sudden change in perspective. Ludahn sank bubbling beneath the lake as Leckar slammed into a wall. Daine spent a split-second admiring Zircah's vision before the Stormwing pushed her gently away. Immediately Daine began to reload, but Zircah and the rest turned to follow Rikash back to Carthak._

Zircah flew fast to catch up with Rikash, settling herself in his jet stream. She wasn't particularly happy about going back to see the person most responsible for Jakaal's death. As she thought about it, tears of anger and pain rose in her eyes. The cloudy sky chose that moment to release the tears of the Goddess – torrents of rain poured down on the Stormwings to make their journey even more difficult. She let out a choked sob that was more than half a laugh at how unfair it all seemed.

Rikash looked back at the sound and looked abruptly forward again before his glance was noticed and he was removed. "You know the best thing about rain, Bladewing?" He asked conversationally. Zircah made a disinterested sound, hoping he wouldn't choose now to resume being obnoxious.

"No one can tell when you're crying."

Zircah made a startled sound of amusement and sniffled hard. Rikash dropped back to give her a look. "However, I see sunlight through the clouds, so I suggest you get a hold of yourself before you lose all credibility in this great façade of yours."

Zircah couldn't help it. She poked her tongue out at him. "Shove it, Moonsword." Rikash smirked in an all too smug manner before moving forward again. He spent the next hour listening behind him for any signs that Zircah was about to lop his head off, and shying away from small noises.

***

A/N: Huzzah, there's that chapter done with. The eleventh is written already, so it shall be up soon. ^^ Do leave a review. I shall heart ye forever. ^^


	12. Interlude

Disclaimer: I own Zircah. Not Rikash, not Shakith, not Jokhun, not Barzha, not the Graveyard Hag. Do we get the picture yet?

Chapter Eleven:  Interlude

_She stood in a desolate wasteland of sandstone rubble and charred wood.  Her claws clicked as she waded through the mess, her wingtips slipping the larger hunks of stone as she passed them.  Zircah looked up as she continued to struggle through the debris._

_An old woman with a craggy face like tree bark stood before her.  A plain black shift hung from her thin, bony shoulders to her knobbly knees.  No creases marked the fabric, nor did it bunch anywhere on her emancipated form.  Lines of laughter marked the corners of her eyes, but the eyes of the Graveyard Hag were cold and angry now._

_Beside the hag stood a taller, beautiful goddess with blind white eyes.  Shakith stepped forward, arms extended toward Zircah in greeting._

_"What was this place?" Zircah asked, cowed by the massive destruction that had passed here._

_"My realm."  The Graveyard Hag murmured softly.  "This was Carthak."_

_Zircah stared about her in mute wonder.  Gone were the beautiful structures sculpted from stone and gold, gone was the scent of spice and perfume on the breeze.  It its place hung the dry odour of death and fire.  It was not within her grasp to cause such awesome destruction.  The mighty empire she had witnessed was nothing but broken stone._

**_You have more power than you realise._**_  Shakith's voice was solemn.  **Even in the direst circumstance, the roots you twine around your people will hold the course of the will of the gods.**_

_"What is it that you will?"_

_"I will Carthak to repent or ruination." The Hag said suddenly, smacking a knobbly fist into her palm.  Her black eyes burned with anger.  "_This_ will be so, as sure as I am the Graveyard Hag.  I will suffer only so much cheek from this mortal who for so long spoke me fair."_

**_Ozorne's disrespect is intolerable.  _**_Shakith agreed, looking seriously at Zircah.  **He must be removed, no matter the cost.**_

_"Have you a way?"  Zircah asked, brow creased.  A powerful immortal she might be, but this was an immense mortal empire to topple, even with whatever 'roots' Shakith spoke of._

_There was a long hesitation.  Shakith melted away into a thin, wispy man with unnerving eyes of purest blackness.  Gainel the Dream King smiled encouragingly at her.  "A way has been found, though it may not be at all to your liking."_

_"How reassuring."  Zircah replied dryly._

_"Heed the words of the gods."  Gainel counselled her.  "Do not relent in your search for that which you have held most dear.  Be not afraid to ask aid.  Fear not pain or suffering, all will come aright in the end, though the path through the darkness and chaos will take a heavy toll."_

_"That which I have held most dear…?"  Zircah wondered aloud.  Gainel raised his hands with another gentle smile._

_"Words that are not for you have been gifted already.  It will do no harm to speak of this to those who have your trust.  Your knight awaits.  Awake."  She did._

*

Rikash circled boredly on a thermal, steel wings beating occasionally to keep him within the pillar of hot air.  Since departing the mortal realms from Carthak, Stone Tree nation had lazed for near a week in their home – the Stonemaze of the Divine Realms.  The flock had been drastically reduced, but not half as much as the flock of the late Jakaal.  Only three of those who had participated in the battle of Dunlath had made it out of the mortal realms alive.  Jokhun seemed not to care for their losses, nor for the loss his own flock faced.  Rikash scowled as he dropped out of the thermal and glided toward his eyrie in the 'stone tree'.  What sort of ruler cared nought for the welfare of his people?  Barzha would have demanded the bodies retrieved and burned.  Then she would have launched an aggressive counter-attack.  Jokhun had left them to rot and fled to the relative safety of a mortal-less land.

Rikash landed and blinked in confusion to see Zircah in the middle of the nest.  Was she in _his eyrie, of had he mistakenly come to hers?  His cheeks heated despite himself at the thought.  __At least she's not awake yet, he reminded himself.__  That's something.  She had been in this deep Seeing trance for hours.  He began to back away, not wishing to become a target for the formidable female's temper._

"**Blade of the Goddess…"  Rikash jumped in surprise as the harsh voice spilled from Zircah's lips.  Slowly her eyes opened, but they were not her eyes.  Once again he looked into the eyes of Shakith, Goddess of Seers.  "**Soon to Carthak you fly, to find both your ruling reason and to chase your soul out from the blackness.  A friend of a friend is no enemy to you.  When darkness falls, the smallest feather can lift the whole wing into flight**."**

Zircah's body sagged backwards abruptly, her breathing becoming hoarse as Shakith left her.  "…Graveyard Hag?" She murmured breathlessly, shaking her head to clear it.  She blinked several times and then finally seemed to focus on him.  She stared.  "…Moonsword?"

"Uh… I was just leaving…"  He muttered quickly, spreading his wings to find his own eyrie.  Zircah though fast as he spun to launch himself back into the air.

_Your knight awaits._

"Wait."  She echoed Gainel hollowly.  "Rikash… Shakith spoke to you, did She not?"  Rikash turned to regard her carefully, a look of veiled surprise upon his face.

"…I suppose she did."  He replied, wondering what it meant.  Zircah was silent for several moments.  Then she bit her tongue before she rolled her eyes.

"She would, at that."  She said softly, a low chuckle escaping her lips.  The laughter ceased abruptly as Jokhun swooped suddenly from the sky to land beside them.  Zircah felt an immediate loathing for the fact that he was in her eyrie.

"Just the Stormwings I was looking for."  Jokhun commented in his trademark condescending sneer.  "You will both accompany me through the Gates to Carthak.  It appears Ozorne has Tortallan guests, and wants to show off his allies."  He took off again.

Zircah looked to Rikash and openly rolled her eyes this time.  "Show off his allies?  Make an open threat to the Tortallan delegation, more like."  Rikash did not even bother to look astonished at her boldness, which made her wonder what she had let slip prior to this day.

"Come on."  He muttered, and took off.  Zircah stared after him, blue eyes unreadable.

"And so it begins."

***

A/N:  I know, I know, it's a horrendously short chapter. *giggle* Sorry to do this.  However, you may all be assured that we're getting to the really good exciting bits soon! *mad glee* It's this book and the next that I've most been looking forward to doing a remake of.  Ten guesses why. *adores Rikash*

Thanks go to Wyrren Sarrasri… for pestering me, even though she's not had time to do more on her own fic, _Lightning Through the Storm_.  If you're a Zoids fan, go read it – it's very, very good! :)

Thanks also to all my other reviewers, Nogard, Kenta Divina and Undiscovered Actress in particular. ^^ You guys kick!


	13. Dreams of Flight

Disclaimer:  I own not any character you have seen before "Wings of Steel", only Zircah Bladewing and her tale. ^^

This chapter is merely a celebratory effort, seeing's I've no more exams this term. Do enjoy the pointless, mostly plotless fluff. ^^ Hee!

Chapter Twelve:  Dreams of Flight

The air of Carthak was hot and thick. It required no flapping of wings to stay aloft, only the barest angling of Zircah's feathers was sufficient to change her direction. It was almost a struggle to descend toward the gilded mortal who waited for them on an otherwise abandoned terrace in the poorer sections of the imperial palace. Or at least, to speak to the image of a mortal who was truly at the other end of the palace. Ozorne would not come here personally; he would not deign to pass through the corridors his slaves' quarters ran out from like spider webs. Like sewerage pipes. Zircah sneered at the image of the mortal. No life pulsed from it. Ozorne seemed to think they would be fooled. Perhaps Jokhun was, but the wool had certainly not been pulled across her own eyes. She landed gently behind Jokhun and glanced at Rikash, wondering if her supposed helper had realised that the thing before them was but an image.

Jokhun nodded to Ozorne. "Greetings, Emperor."

The image stirred to life, amber eyes taking on a semblance of humanity as they turned toward the Stormwing king. "King Jokhun." He acknowledged the male. "The Tortallan delegation is currently within the palace, discussing the terms of our treaty. You will not be required, nor indeed introduced to the Tortallans until tonight. We have no doubts that you will wish to sit in on the proceedings to make sure your own interests are not overlooked."

"You are most kind." Jokhun replied. "We shall certainly attend on the morrow if you deem it necessary that our services are required."

"Fear is certainly a tool worth utilising when dealing with the weak northerners, Emperor Ozorne. They will make far more concessions with our presence than they would were we not there." Rikash pointed out.

"Quite so." Ozorne agreed, a faint light of amusement coming into his eyes. "Attend the banquet tonight, just after dark. We will introduce you formally. Until then, try to stay unnoticed. You may wander the palace if you so choose, but try not to disturb our birds."

"Birds?" Zircah queried. Ozorne frowned at her.

"Our birds have been ill of late. A wild mage from the northern lands came with the delegation to heal them for us."

Zircah's mind raced. She shrugged and looked to Rikash. "Well, what an interesting mortal. I can't say I've ever heard of any mortal with that skill." Her voice was smooth and innocent. Rikash, who had opened his mouth, shut it again. He had no wish to provoke Zircah's temper.

"She was most helpful to us." Ozorne said with a slight smile. His expression hardened. "Even though she is a student of a traitor. You are dismissed."

They took to the sky again, hovering above the palace. Jokhun turned to the two. "Meet me here this evening. Stir no trouble here – provoke no one. We are in no danger, but immortals are not kindly looked upon anywhere in the mortal realms. Stay out of sight, if you can." He advised them. Zircah raised her eyebrows as the crowned immortal flew off.

"Was it only me, or did he seem very nervous?" She asked Rikash. He shrugged.

"Is he not always so?" He returned. Zircah made a noncommittal sound. He had a point. She circled aimlessly for a few moments.

"Well. Veralidaine is here." She commented. "I believe I shall go and see her work on the birds." She reached out with her mind to locate any large collection of birds and found their location at once. She banked in that direction and frowned when she heard Rikash follow her. When she turned to give him a curious look, he shrugged.

"It will be cooler inside the palace, and I've nothing better to do." He excused his trailing lightly. _Not to mention the fact that you seem to have some idea of what is going on around here, prophet. I have no such messenger in Shakith._ He followed Zircah to where a large open entrance was surrounded by slaves washing mortal garments. They glided in, scattering mortals everywhere. Zircah beckoned to a slave.

"Y-yes mistress?" The dark-skinned mortal stammered in an effort to be brave. Zircah smiled encouragingly, and the slave shrank from her silver fangs.

"We require directions to your emperor's bird rooms." She said, reaching out with her mind to soften the instruction's feel in the slave's mind. The slave glanced about her, obviously not willing to leave her duties to show two immortals the palace.

"You will find them inside, the first left and at the very end of the hall, left again, nobility." She said, bowing slightly.

"Many thanks." Zircah replied, and walked away with as graceful a step as she could manage. Rikash hop-skipped after her, grumbling under his breath. She heard him sigh in relief as they stepped into the shade of the palace, but it didn't stop him from poking her viciously in the back. She turned to scowl at him dangerously.

"You couldn't have made life easier and asked for a trolley, could you? I look stupid when I walk!" He muttered indignantly. Zircah gave him a look of cool appraisal.

"Yes." She agreed haughtily. "You do." She left Rikash sputtering in annoyance and indignation and glided smoothly away, using her mind to better guide her to the bird rooms. When she got there, she spent several moments admiring a beautiful likeness of a bird crafted of mosaic tiles, gilt and jewels. She pressed on it expectantly, but it was locked. Letting out an annoyed growl, she opened a claw and made a speaking spell to link her to Ozorne.

"Your imperial majesty," she said sweetly into the globe. "It's Zircah. I wish to see your birds, if you do not mind. I've a gift with creatures of all sorts – I swear to you I will not wake them. Could you please unlock the door?"

"Granted, Zircah Bladewing." Ozorne's voice was terse. The doors swung open.

"Rikash as well, Lord Ozorne." Zircah nearly lost the speaking spell in surprise when his voice sounded behind her. She did lose her balance, saved only by the flat of Rikash's wing coming to rest in the small of her back.

"Yes, granted." Ozorne sounded distracted and annoyed. "Make sure you do not hurt my birds."

"We will." Zircah closed the globe and turned to glare at Rikash. "Don't sneak up on me ever again." She reprimanded him. Rikash smirked at her, but bowed his head slightly in acquiescence. A faint blush of anger remained on her normally pale cheeks as she entered the bird house. She opened her mind to the sleeping occupants of the bird house, pulling back suddenly when she remembered something.

"Rikash…?" She murmured as softly as she could. The blond male, who had been looking around for any signs of life, snapped his head toward her with a rattle of bones that made her scowl. Seeing this, he slunk apologetically closer until she could hiss, "You fool, be quiet. They have been ill recently, and we're not supposed to wake them."

"Right." Rikash muttered in response, moving away again as quietly as he could. He had expected this to be interesting enough to stave off boredom, but since all the birds were sleeping… he resisted the urge to snort, knowing it would end up with him bleeding. Zircah had closed her eyes and was crouching slightly in the leaf litter on the ground. He felt a faint tickling sensation in the back of his head and cringed slightly at the thought she might be able to read his mind.

Zircah quested out toward the birds that surrounded her, gently melding her minds with theirs. Not all of them had been ill, and were brimming with energy from their long sleep. She didn't even have to call them – they found their way to her even in the quasi-darkness of the aviary, bright spots of colour set in the silver of her wings like jewels in a darkened room. With her mind spread among the birds, Zircah saw dimly through their eyes the shape of Rikash watching them curiously. The birds were nervous of him – he was not People like she was. Zircah quelled their fears, sending them her heartfelt trust of the blond male. She was astonished to discover it there herself – had not she once loathed him? She hid herself in the minds of the birds, not wanting to contemplate that any longer.

Rikash blinked in surprise as a tiny scarlet wren cheeped plaintively at him. He raised his eyebrow querulously. "I don't have any food. What do you want?" He vaguely recognised that if Zircah could hear him, he was sounding like an absolute prat. He snorted. He didn't care what her opinion of him was. The wren cheeped again and fluttered up to land on his shoulder. He made a soft sound of annoyance and shook his head to make it go away.

The bird came back and landed atop his wing this time. Rikash glared at it. "If you weren't Ozorne's, I would mince you." He threatened it. It chirped innocently, and let off a soft run of whistles that called a dozen other birds to it. Rikash groaned as his wings were abruptly weighed down with other birds, all eyeing him curiously as they chirped quietly to themselves. Rikash flapped his wings, sending the birds flying, but as soon as his taloned feet were back on the ground, they landed on his wings again.

Rikash soon tired of trying in vain to shake off the irritating creatures. Try as he might, he could not get them to leave him alone, nor be quiet while he waited for Zircah to stop communing with the rest of them and make them leave him alone. He winced as a particularly loud and high-pitched warble sounded right next to his ear.

There was a sudden silence that seemed to deafen in its intensity. The birds were all completely still, heads toward Zircah. Rikash sidled towards her and made a soft sound of annoyance and surprise to discover that she was Seeing. "Fantastic! Now I'll have to wait forever…" he muttered in annoyance, wondering why her visions came so frequently now.

_Best to listen. Shakith may have another message for you._

Rikash nodded absently at the thought and shuffled closer so that he could see Zircah's face. Then he blinked. That thought had not been his own. He glanced around suspiciously. "Who's there?"

Wheezy laughter was the only reply, but Rikash recognised it. "Graveyard Hag."

"That's right, Stormwing." She stepped out from a wall, black hair several inches long and sticking out all over the place. A simple white linen shift hung to her knees, revealing stick-like calves and leather sandals. "You've got a part to play in all this, same as she does." She jerked a hand at Zircah, who was muttering softly under her breath.

"I… what must I do?" Rikash asked, confused. This was for prophets, not for him. The Graveyard Hag chuckled, black eyes sparkling with wicked humour.

"You don't know what's going on here because she doesn't think she's allowed to tell you – so I will instead. She was called here because the gods are angry with Ozorne. He has scorned the Divine Realms for too long. Even I am not willing to defend him now, though these are my lands. He is like a mad dog, biting the hand that feeds him. I will tolerate it no more."

"And what do you want me to do about it?" Rikash asked, putting just enough reverence into his tone that the goddess would not start smiting. The Hag grinned toothlessly.

"Well now. Isn't that an interesting question? You'll soon find you might have to make allies with those you'd rather leave alone, Stormwing. And help those you'd rather leave to rot. Keep in mind it's your heart that has to do the thinking here, and not your memories."

"You sound like a riddle-making dragon." Rikash replied. "I know better than to ask for a straight answer from you, though."

"Clever boy." The Graveyard Hag commented with another gap-toothed grin. "Talk to her when she wakes. You might learn something." She vanished. Rikash glared at the spot she had been, and went back to glaring at Zircah, willing Shakith to hurry up.

[A/N: Have you ever had to wait for someone to get off a pay phone?]

Zircah came back to herself and blinked slowly. Rikash was standing in front of her, staring dazedly off into nothingness. She raised an eyebrow at the birds that lined his wings and shook her head in amusement.

The movement must have startled Rikash, for he blinked and stood up straighter, wings moving in front of him in automatic defence. It wasn't a particularly threatening sight, given the cheerfully piping animals on his wings. She couldn't help herself – she burst into ringing peals of laughter.

Rikash looked at the hysterical Zircah and slowly turned red. "It's not my f-fault, they won-n't go away!" He blinked at the garbled sounds coming from his mouth and silently cursed his tongue for betraying him at the worst possible time. Zircah laughed even harder, tears streaming down her face, as he pouted and proceeded to look even more pathetic by holding out his wings and demanding she tell the birds on them to leave him alone.

Finally regaining some modicum of self-control, Zircah asked that the birds cease using Rikash as a perch. They returned immediately to their trees, though they were reluctant to leave such an amusing Eater. Zircah giggled again as they pictured his antics for her, earning herself a half-curious scowl from Rikash. She leaned forward and dotted his nose with the tip of a wing feather, grinning as she healed it so he wouldn't complain even more. "Ah," she commented with a grin. "My stuttering birdtamer."

Rikash growled. "Shut up, Bladewing."

Zircah stifled another chuckle, deciding he had seen enough humiliation for one day. So, "Come on, Moonsword… it's getting late, and we mustn't keep out lord Jokhun waiting." She rolled her eyes as she said this and turned to walk from the aviary.

"…before we go." Rikash said, calling her attention back to him. "You're Seeing often lately… apparently this has something to do with me, as well. Whatever it is you're getting from Shakith. So… would it be too much to ask that I actually knew what in the name of Mithros was going on?"

Zircah turned back to him, abruptly completely serious. Her ice blue eyes regarded him carefully, a trace of fear seeping through as she reflected on the vision she had just received. Too much pain to be remembered fearlessly. And yet, perhaps this would prevent it. She frowned as she pondered what there was to tell – it was not as though she knew much more than he, after all.

"Moonsword, if I tell you this, you cleave to me and me only." She warned him. "Not Jokhun, not Ozorne."

"What makes you think I cleave to either of them?" He asked, indirectly pledging allegiance. Zircah hid a smile.

"Very well. Rikash, Ozorne has ignored the gods. Even the Graveyard Hag is vexed with him now. Something is due to happen here soon and we are to witness, but do not think that we alone will be able to defeat the emperor for the gods. Shakith's words convince me that we must join with past enemies… and as Veralidaine is here, she must be connected to this."

"That girl, the so-called Stormwing killer? What could she have to do with this? She is a child!" Rikash protested quietly. Zircah shot him a pained look.

"So was Maura, Rikash." She said softly. Rikash fell silent and she continued, "There is something different about this girl, though. She has had so much to do with events since we were summoned through the barrier between the realms… I believe she must be the one, though what purpose she must serve I do not know."

"That mage… think you he is here? He may be a part of this, as well." Rikash suggested. "Tristan mentioned that Salmalín was interested in wild magic, which he claimed not to exist."

"Staghorn was a simpleton with delusions of grandeur." Zircah sneered. "But you are correct – the mage goes nowhere without his student. Ozorne may use this against him while he is here. Perhaps that is our purpose – to protect her."

"Perhaps." Rikash did not sound pleased by the thought. He stared hard at the darkened glass. "We must go to meet Jokhun."

Zircah nodded her assent. "Not a word of this must be breathed to anyone but the gods, Moonsword."

"I hadn't guessed." Rikash returned snidely. "I'm a dumb blond who spurts out the secrets of the gods even when he's been specifically warned by a psychotic warrior Stormwing not to!" Zircah tossed him a warning look.

"I am not psychotic."

"Not at all."

"I'm _not_." A snort. "Shut up, Moonsword."

"I said nothing."

"You were _thinking_ it…"

Somewhere a goddess sighed in exasperation. It truly bespoke the waning of their powers to chaos that these were their best hope to obliterate Ozorne.

***

A/N:  Bwa ha ha ha ha. I did it, Wyrren! You're not home yet! =] Happy end of exams! 

…I spoke too soon. Now just to spite me, FF.Net won't let me log in. - -;; Okay… I can still get this uploaded… dammit… - -;;;;

Next chapter: The Stormwings are introduced to the Tortallan delegation and Daine makes an amusing mistake, earning herself the wrath of Rikash and the honour of seeing Zircah dying of laughter. ^^ Unfortunately, Ozorne is a bastard and it's time for a plot twist… doncha hate that? ^^


	14. Things Fall Apart

Disclaimer: I don't own anything you saw in _The Immortals Quartet_. That would belong to Tamora Pierce. I own Zircah Bladewing and whatever storyline was not present in _The Immortals_.

A/N: Sorry for the long wait, folks! I kinda got sidetracked by the fact that I have a new PSII. *smiles* And exams, too. Evil, evil exams… anyways. ^^; Um, here's the thirteenth chapter, in which bad things start to happen. ^^ What a coincidence – I didn't plan this to be chapter thirteen! ^_^ And apologies to all who know me IRL for the chapter title. It just had to be done. :P

And I swear, if I have to tell my spell check than Rikash is not Rakish ONE MORE TIME… *twitch*

Chapter Thirteen: Things Fall Apart 

"King Jokhun of Stone Tree Nation and his vassals, Lord Rikash Moonsword and Lady Zircah Bladewing." Zircah winced at the proclamation, wishing they could have called her something a little more flattering than 'lady vassal'. It made her sound pathetic, especially behind this snivelling monarch. She glared imperiously at the first of the mortals come to greet them. The room was packed with twoleggers, nobles and slaves alike. With the buzz of many minds to confuse her, it took Zircah some time to realise that Skysong was present, even longer for her to pick the dragon and her mistress out of the crowd. Daine was dressed prettily, a huge change from the worn breeches and shirt she usually wore. Zircah glanced at Rikash, who was looking around as well. Before the next group could be introduced, she tapped him with her wingtip.

"Look at that – a dragon." She said. Rikash's eyes widened slightly, then narrowed in affected distaste as he found Daine and Skysong. The girl waved cheekily at them. Rikash turned up his nose and looked away – plenty of time to talk with her when they were officially introduced. Zircah grinned and turned her attention back to the other more mundane Tortallan guests.

Finally the crier announced Mistress Veralidaine Sarrasri and the dragon Skysong. "We've met." Rikash muttered. Daine curtsied, wobbling a little, and looked at Jokhun. Finding him less than interested, she shot a smile at Zircah. To Rikash she said, "_Moonsword?_ That's very pretty."

Rikash snorted as Zircah snickered. "My ancestors were a sentimental lot."

Daine grinned widely, evil amusement in her eyes. "I would've thought Lady Zircah would have better suited it. Bladewing would sound better on _you_."

There was a long pause. Zircah and Rikash looked at each other and burst into loud laughter than stilled the entire hall for a few moments. When Zircah got herself under control, she managed to choke out, "Listen, girlie, only Stormwing mates trade last names. If you think this blond bone-bag is worthy of me, you're crazy!"

_Oh, I don't know. I think you look kind of cute together._

_WHAT?_

Rikash rolled his eyes as Daine giggled, though he hadn't heard their mental commentary, and made to change the subject. "I remember you, too, mage." He said loudly, calling attention back to himself. "I remember the onion spell you threw at me."

"Lord Rikash, did you not say the animals of Dunlath behaved oddly?" Ozorne deigned to interject. Rikash blinked at him, but started speaking again as Zircah discreetly poked him in the back.

"I certainly did." He agreed, though he already knew why. Zircah had not wanted him to expand on the knowledge, though, so he had held his tongue.

"You have Daine to thank. She is bonded to animals through wild magic." Ozorne said loftily. Rikash tried to look annoyed and surprised while thinking, _Well, really, do you think?_

Jokhun stirred himself, seeming to think that if Ozorne would speak to these mortals then he would, too. "Someday we shall meet less formally – when you are not protected by your host. We will discuss a number of Stormwing deaths that are laid to your account." Zircah saw Daine's eye twitch at the inherent irritating quality of Jokhun's whiny voice.

"Any time." She managed sweetly. Numair bowed and after a moment's hesitation, Daine dropped into her second curtsy, this one far more confident than the last. They walked away through the crowd. Jokhun sneered after them as the mortals moved to seat themselves for the banquet.

"I tire of these mortal activities." He remarked idly after a time. He nodded to Ozorne. "I am leaving now." He said, barely showing enough respect to keep Ozorne's temper in check. His cheeks darkened with spots of angry colour, but he nodded calmly enough.

"Very well, Lord Jokhun, you may take your leave. Your vassals may remain, if they wish."

Zircah smiled pleasantly and nodded. Taking his cue from her, Rikash nodded and settled himself. Jokhun turned and flew slowly out the large window. As soon as he was gone, Zircah ducked closer to Rikash.

"This is a perfect opportunity to ally yourself closer to Daine while that old windbag is gone." She whispered. Rikash looked mildly surprised.

"Myself? And what about you?" He asked, vague annoyance showing in his tone.

"I am already quite allied with Veralidaine." Zircah said with a slight smile. Rikash stared at her for a few moments before realisation dawned.

"You mean you helped her to plan the downfall of Dunlath?" He hissed, barely masked fury showing in his tone. Zircah, slightly surprised by this outburst, could only shrug. Rikash glared at her. "I cannot believe you did that." He said finally. Zircah raised an eyebrow at his vehemence. He seemed really very angry with her. She shrugged again and moved back to her previous perch.

_He's going to be in a right pet when he comes to see you. Be nice._ She informed Daine, much to the girl's confusion. Zircah refused to speak any more. She glanced around the hall, took a fondly amused look at the still sulking Rikash, and decided that she had had enough of this banquet, as well.

"Lord Ozorne, I, too, will take me leave of you." She did not bother phrasing it as a request to the puppet-thing that was once more playing the Emperor. He nodded his acquiescence and she spread her wings to fly out the window into the night sky.

**Sense. Seek for that which is dearest to your heart.**

She nearly fell out of the air in surprise. The goddess' voice sounded so near. She glanced around in wonder, curious as to what she was searching for. She reached out her magical spider-web of awareness and felt along it tentatively. Was she supposed to be searching for another like herself? Daine was there, in the hall. There were the birds in the menagerie. Dearest to her heart?

She stopped in shock as her awareness swept over an immortal. More than one, many immortals! She changed her direction immediately. She had not sensed them there before, yet they were right near the birds. She bared her teeth as she worked her wings faster. There was a griffin, the cold mind of a Coldfang, killer unicorns, spidrens, hurroks – _Stormwings!_ Her heart raced as she dropped toward what she thought was an open, empty pavilion. The mind-signatures were inside it, she could feel them. They were so familiar to her, but she did not dare to believe what she hoped until she saw it with her own eyes.

She landed heavily and spun to see the Stormwings. They stared at her with round eyes full of surprise. Then both of them rushed to the bars of the cage they were in.

"Zircah!" Barzha exclaimed, clearly very surprised to see her. "What in the name of the Graveyard Hag are you doing here?"

"It is in the name of the Graveyard Hag," Zircah replied in slightly garbled explanation. "My queen… Hebakh… Jokhun told us you were dead! That piece of sewer-floating mortal dung!" Fury was plain on her face. "I'll kill him."

Barzha seemed to guess what she was on about. "No, you won't." She commanded, still queen despite the absence of a crown. "You'll leave the foul scum for us when we are free of this cage. But you must find out a way to free us, Zircah. Ozorne maintains these cages."

Zircah's teeth showed in a cruel grin. "His death will be your freedom, my lady, my lord. He has been nothing but an annoyance to me. I would be pleased to get rid of him for you."

"Well, I'm sorry you feel that way."

Zircah whirled with an angry screech at Ozorne's voice. She nearly got free of the ground before a wave of crimson fire slammed into her and she knew no more. Ozorne's amber eyes were sadistic as he manipulated her into the same cage as Barzha and Hebakh with one hand. The Stormwing monarchs swore filthily at him, promising vengeance. Hebakh in particular looked ready to go _through_ the bars.

"Hold your tongues!" Ozorne snarled, throwing up both his hands in anger. They choked and fell silent, though still simmering with rage. Zircah thudded to the ground, wings lax, hair falling messily about her shoulders. Ozorne's good humour returned slowly as he watched her still form. "There is simply no point in your making a fuss about this." He told Barzha and Hebakh calmly. "You see, she will never wake. She will simply go on dreaming of everything she abhors until she is nothing but dust. Even immortals fall prey to this spell. There is no cure." He sighed theatrically. "A pity. She is the most beautiful of my three captive Stormwings. Such a shame to lose the most beautiful gem in a collection." He clicked his fingers, and both Hebakh and Barzha gasped for breath. He walked away, leaving them to watch over the unconscious form of Zircah.

It had taken Rikash a good fifteen minutes to get a slave to even venture near him, a further ten before the quavering woman got him what he wanted. A trolley with a thick bar parallel to its surface was eventually wheeled up to him. He explained what he wished the slave to do.

"Listen," he told her. "I'm not going to hurt you. I'd just like you to wheel me over to where Veralidaine and the dragon are. Do you think you can do that?" The slave nodded nervously. "Good." He hopped onto the bar. The slave started to push him slowly through the crowd. He was relieved she had the courage to do as he had asked. He hadn't wanted to fly over Ozorne's dinner guests, calling attention to himself as he went to speak to a person whom every other person in the room assumed was his enemy. Fortunately, the slave wheeled him around the outskirts of the crowd until they reached Veralidaine.

"Go away." He told the slave coldly, mostly to keep up appearances. He had the pleasure of seeing Daine's eyes flash with anger and Numair straightened slightly. He nodded to them coolly and found himself staring at a tiny marmoset perched on Daine's shoulder. He sneered. "Still consorting with tree rats, I see."

Daine smiled despite herself. "Now you know what disease the Dunlath animals had."

"Was that you, shape-changed?" He asked, curious. Zircah had no such ability, as far as he knew. He recalled her explaining to him that she could not shape-change because she was an immortal, only able to put her mind within a creature instead of becoming a separate creature herself.

"I could only put myself within an animal's mind then. Flicker and that eagle were helping me."

Rikash decided that this was his chance to seem helpful. "Shape-shifting goes with that skill." Unable to help himself, he added, "I would have thought you would know that by now."

Numair's grin was eviller than anything Rikash had seen on a Stormwing. "She does."

"How delightful for us all." Rikash commented dryly. "I must remember to give Tortall a wide berth." _A shame about that. I should like to see Maura again._ He scratched the brass of his perch idly, drawing ear-piercing screeches from the trolley. The older mage winced and patted his fellow humans on the shoulder, excusing himself with a bow.

"We were having a nice talk before you came along." Daine told Rikash in a slightly accusatory tone. He smirked.

"I am devastated to have ruined your fun." He paused, wondering. He looked down at his feet almost apologetically as he asked, "Do you hear from Maura of Dunlath."

"She writes to Daine often." Numair volunteered. Daine nodded as she stroked the marmoset on her shoulder.

"She misses you. She says her guardian is nice, but he doesn't have your sense of humour." As though she didn't quite want to mention it, she added, "You _could_ visit her, you know. She'd like that."

Rikash thought about that as he pried up part of the trolley's surface brass. Underneath, there was nothing but cheap wood painted gold. "I must remain here with King Jokhun, for now." He replied, remembering his King at the last minute. "I believe… my stay will not endure for much longer, and then I may be free to pursue my own life. If that is the case, I would like to see Maura again." He gave a mental snort. It sounded as though he had been caged.

"Oh? It sounds as if you anticipate a momentous event. What is it?" Numair asked curiously. Rikash looked at him sharply, amusement glimmering in his eyes as he grinned. He wondered what he could say. Certainly not, Oh, we thought we'd put Carthak to ruin while we were here. Graveyard Hag has a whim, you see."

"Finish your business here quickly, mage. Carthak's unhealthy. It will get worse before it gets better. Frankly, I'm surprised to find either of you here at this court. Is it wise to make peace with the man who tried to overthrow your king?" Trying to open them up to the idea of not making any agreements with Ozorne was, he felt, a good idea. Numair sighed.

"It's very wise, if the greatest army and navy are on your enemy's side."

Daine looked troubled as she fiddled with the silver badger claw at her throat. "It's no different to what you did, is it?"

Rikash raised his eyebrows and stamped the pulled-up sheet of metal back into place to mask his confusion. "Now what is that supposed to mean?"

Daine looked up sharply in annoyance. "Don't play innocent. We've _seen_ the menagerie, _Lord_ Rikash. They have one of your queens and her consort there." The dragon kit, who had been trying to clamber onto the trolley to greet the Stormwing properly, whistled in agreement. Rikash shot her a warning glare, which made her turn greyish and snap her muzzle closed with a soft click. What on earth were these mortals speaking of? Stormwings entrapped in Ozorne's palace? Would not Zircah have mentioned such a thing when she sensed them?

"You are wrong. There are no queens missing from the other flocks, and I have no queen in mine. The old one was slain in combat by King Jokhun, after our custom." The grain was uneven in that, it always had been. It had always troubled him that Barzha had been defeated by a Stormwing he had always regarded as being feeble.

Numair frowned, then shrugged, convinced the Stormwing would know more about the comings and goings of his people than mortals would. "Then maybe the prince was mistaken. He seemed convinced that Barzha was a queen."

Rikash's eyes widened and he fluffed his feathers as a chill ran down his spine. _You're joking._ "_What_ did you say her name was?"

Daine picked up the sulking Skysong and stroked her gently. "Barzha. Her consort was named Hebakh. The prince said that their being in a cage was the price of the alliance with King Jokhun."

Rikash's features froze for an instant. There was no possible way that Daine and Numair could have made up two Stormwing names, and he doubted very much that Zircah would have mentioned her old queen. _That… ground-pounding weevil!_ His face contorted with rage and he immediately swept into the air and out into the dark night sky. He had to find Zircah, because if he didn't, he was going to kill Jokhun. Surely she must have sensed them by now? He scowled at the array of torches that marked the terraces and pathways through the palace gardens. He was unsure of where the aviary had been, but he was sure that Barzha and Hebakh would be kept somewhere near there. He found the washer-courts and glared suspiciously at an open area he was certain had not been there before. He swept cautiously down toward it and let out a startled cry at the sight of trapped immortals. He had landed before he could think about it further, turning around until he found the cage that held Stormwings.

A wordless sound of dismay escaped him and he beat his wings to come nearer to the cage. "Queen Barzha! King Hebakh!" His gaze travelled downward to where Zircah was sprawled on the ground, the bladed feathers woven into her hair cutting into her skin. Already she was much paler than she had been an hour ago, and her mouth was slightly open, blood trickling from the corner of her lips. "…oh no…"

Hebakh glanced at him sharply. "You were working with her?"

Rikash nodded slightly, disappointment plain on his face. "…Veralidaine just mentioned you were being held captive. I was afraid she might have come to trouble."

"And so she has." Barzha said shortly. "Ozorne said that she will sleep and have nightmares until she wastes to nothing. He will be returning here soon, so you must leave. You must do everything in your power to get us all out of here, Rikash Moonsword."  
Rikash's face was dark with anger. "I will. I swear I will. You may count on it. How were you brought here?"

"Jokhun had already spoken across the barrier when he challenged us for the crown. Ozorne's magic trapped us until we were brought here." Hebakh sneered angrily. "You must leave, quickly." Rikash nodded curtly.

"I will return when I may." He flapped his wings furiously and rose up out of the courtyard into the night sky. Hebakh nodded to him respectfully and went back to pacing in the confines of the magical cage.

Rikash flew back over the terraces, promising himself that he would not kill Jokhun. It would be far too messy a thing to occur in Carthak just now. At that moment, his eyes fell on a curiously bright spot of the terrace, where an old woman stood, looking at him. Rikash stared down at her for several moments before he recognised her – the Graveyard Hag. She grinned wickedly and raised her hands to clap out the lights that surrounded her, but Rikash wasn't going to let her get away that easily. He pushed himself through the air into a stoop and nearly ploughed himself into the stone of the terrace in an effort to reach her before she vanished.

Fortunately, the Graveyard Hag was not in a playful mood, and waited for him. The simple white shift she wore hung to her knees and billowed gently in a breeze that was not of the realm Rikash currently inhabited. He scowled at her and opened his mouth to yell at her, but she held a bony finger to her lips and flickered away to a darker part of the terrace, where it met the building. Rikash scowled and held his tongue for the moment, flapping over to where he could perch on the banister. She looked at him expectantly, fingers steepled together at her collar.

"I suppose you think this is tremendously funny?" Rikash asked her angrily. "I suppose you think it just hysterical that your vessel has been taken down by a mortal?"

The Graveyard Hag merely watched him, an amused smile on her face.

"You were the one who brought her here, and now she's fallen prey to some foully fatal spell. What, pray tell, do you plan to do about it? I certainly can't finish whatever mission you and Shakith are on by myself!" Rikash waved his wings angrily, trying to make his point while at the same time trying to keep his voice down. "You have to pull some divine strings, get her out of there."

The Graveyard Hag shook her head while Rikash fumed and produced a silver dice cup. "There are more ways than divine retribution to break the bars of a cage." She said, rattling the dice cup. "You don't have to kill a mortal to take them away from everything that makes them so." She held up the cup invitingly, and at his curt nod, shook them out on the flagstones. She counted them quickly and grinned at him as she collected them and turned the cup upside down on the railing. "Seven. You win, for now."

Rikash looked up with a start as the Graveyard Hag turned to face Veralidaine. He hadn't even seen her coming, but she was glaring directly at him. The Graveyard Hag grinned at her. "Push this bad boy off the rail, there's a dear. He's going to beat a poor old lady out of her life's savings." She snatched the dice cup, leaving the dice behind, and turned back to Rikash. "Something of hers for you. Use it well." With that she swung herself out off the balcony, vanishing without so much as silver mist. Daine gave a cry and ran to the banister to peer after her.

"Who was that? What were you doing with her?" She sounded confused and a little bit frightened by what she had just witnessed.

Rikash stared at her, surprised and amused at her worry for the goddess. He had assumed that the Graveyard Hag had made herself visible to only him. "You saw her? Who was she?"

"The poor old slave they made clean my rooms this morning!"

The idea of the Graveyard Hag cleaning was too much. Rikash burst out laughing. "Oh, indeed? Well, if you want to believe that, go right ahead. You'll learn." Daine regarded him suspiciously.

"There's something you're not telling me."

Rikash was indignant. "No, it's _her_. Ask_ her_ what she's not telling you." His eyes fell on the spot where the dice had been and he paused when he realised it was a feather.

_Something of hers for you. Use it well._

Zircah's feather. His annoyance tapered off as he added, "And be careful. She's tricky." Now what on earth could he be expected to do with that?

Daine followed his gaze and stared at the steel feather. "Are you moulting?" She asked in surprise. "_Do_ you moult? You don't _look_ like you lost a feather."

Oh no, just an ally, Rikash though bitterly as he snapped, "Never mind that." He near bit his tongue in two as she turned to leave. "No – wait. Please." There must have been just enough desperation in his tone to sway her. She turned around again and crossed her arms impatiently, waiting. But Rikash was wondering where to begin, and sat in silence for a time.

"Anything?" Daine asked, impatience getting the better of her. "You left in a hurry before."

"I would apologise for my rudeness, if I had manners. Happily, I don't. You ought to try _our_ shape sometime. People expect you to be crude. I'm told it's liberating for most humans."

The simplicity of the plan was so brilliant it stunned him for a moment.

_You don't have to kill a mortal to take them away from everything that makes them so._

So… but how to get the feather to Ozorne? He couldn't do it in front of Jokhun; the pretender would know the effects of what he was planning, and would surely let it slip to protect his own interests. Against all else, he made a quick prayer to the Graveyard Hag.

Daine snorted. "You won't catch _me_ that way. Numair warned me what happens when humans take on the shape of immortals – we can't change back."

"Wanted to try dragon's shape, did you?" Rikash replied, and was rewarded by Daine sticking out her tongue at him. He smiled. She reminded him of Maura, sometimes.

"I wasn't lying, about the Stormwings in the menagerie." She picked up Zircah's feather and poked the rail with it, careful to keep her flesh clear of its bladed edges. Rikash felt the rage bubble up again.

"I know." He said angrily. "I saw them – Barzha, and Hebakh. They told me how they came to be there. And…" He looked away. "When Zircah left during the feast, she was captured, also."

Daine looked sad. "I'm sorry."

"I'm angry, not sorry." Rikash replied harshly, though it was not exactly true. "Jokhun lied when he took over our flock. He said he killed Barzha and Hebakh in combat, and their bodies dropped into one of your oceans. We believed him because we were tired of battles… Stormwings, tired of battles! We betrayed her, just as he did. And to find _this_ smiling, lying mortal in league with him-" He broke off as humans appeared on the terrace, globes lit with magic sailing overhead to light their way. Ozorne led them, and Rikash also recognised Lady Alanna and Duke Gareth, both Tortallan nobility. Rikash glanced at Daine as he tried to get his emotions under control. "Follow my lead. Please," he added at her dubious expression.

"Veralidaine, and Lord Rikash," The emperor classed them and greeted them with the same words. "Now here is an odd pairing. We had heard this young lady hates Stormwings."

Rikash shrugged, trying his very hardest to appear casual and _not_ as though he wanted to rip Ozorne's throat out. "We value a good enemy, imperial Majesty. If I may be permitted to say so, opponents come in many guises. It is well to get to know them all." The emperor nodded sagely. Rikash made a mental sneer. _Smile all you want now, your _imperial Majesty_, but I will be the one laughing when all this comes to an end._

"Forgive my departure earlier, but I had thought of a gift to make to you, as a personal token of my appreciation for our association. It would be my very great pleasure if you would accept it. Give it to him, if you please," He told Daine imperiously, as though this was a deal they had already struck, as though they were on the same side. She haltingly offered it to Ozorne, obviously confused by the exchange.

The emperor smiled and took the feather carefully. "Is some _particular_ virtue attached to this gift?"

"Indeed. Any such token from an immortal has-" _Death attached, you crocodile-grinning vermin_. "-qualities. Heed me: If ever you are in peril of life and throne – and it must be _peril_ which drives you, not curiosity – take this feather and thrust it into your flesh. When it mixes with your blood, you will fly from your enemies as if winged with steel, and escape beyond the Black God's reach for all time." His voice had taken on an unearthly ringing tone. Rikash wondered if the Graveyard Hag had added to the drama of the moment for her own amusement, or to aid him.

Ozorne's amber eyes were cool as he replied. "Neither our life nor our throne is in peril, Lord Rikash, nor do we believe they will ever be. Our hold on our empire is firm."

Rikash smiled and nodded agreement. _I bet you don't._ "But the wheel turns. What is up may come down; what is brought low may rise. The gods are not fickle – but they have been known to change their minds. One day you will know the value of Stormwing esteem." _And also the value of having none of it at all_, he added within his mind as he offered a careful bow to the emperor. Having dismissed the man, he turned to Daine.

"I never know what to make of you," He told her truthfully. "I suppose I never will." He took off and moved as far away from the palace as he dared, wondering where Jokhun could be. He did not think he could risk a return to the palace tonight, not even after mouthing platitudes and gifting Ozorne with the feather. He hoped he had done enough, because he wasn't sure how much more pretending he could take. His blood was boiling as he flew to where Stone Tree Nation had last made their eyries in Carthak and greeted Jokhun as courteously as he could.

"Where is Zircah?" Jokhun demanded. Rikash tried to be casual.

"Probably talking to her precious animals." He sneered uncaringly, huddling down in what had been her eyrie, once. "What care we? She was nothing but an irritating female." He cowled his wings above his head and was surprised to find that he was actually rather hurt she had gone and gotten herself attacked. It just wasn't very Zircah-like. He wondered how long it would be before Daine fulfilled her part in the prophecy, so that his own plan could go into effect.

Barzha watched over Zircah worriedly. She was growing paler by the minute, breathing hoarsely as she slept on. Barzha glanced at her mate, who shrugged.

"At least she is sleeping relatively peacefully, Barzha." He said softly. It was all the comfort he could offer. Barzha was about to nod when Zircah gave a sudden, short exhalation of shock and started murmuring softly and frantically to herself in the Stormwing tongue. It was too soft for either of the Stormwing monarchs to make out properly, but they caught the name of a dragon and several calls for the goddess, Shakith, and Rikash. Slowly the whisperings faded into silence once more. Barzha had almost begun to relax when Zircah began to scream.

~*~

A/N: :( Poor Zircah. Had to be done, I'm afraid. I'll have the next instalment up as soon as possible, but I'm not making any deadlines, because that will jinx it. *giggle* Your support is greatly appreciated, so please take a few seconds to review! Many thanks. :)

**Nogard**, before I forget – Zircah didn't heal the birds because Daine had already healed them! She just came through while they were sleeping off the effects of Daine's little magic inoculation. ^^ Okies?

And **Wyrren**.. I swear, I will never complain about how short my chapters are again! XD


	15. Three Warning Shots

Disclaimer: I do not own anything you saw in the Immortals Quartet. I do own the things you haven't, most notably the currently dying Zircah.

A/N: I had zippo inspiration for this chapter. I'm sorry it's so short. I'm sorry it's so horrible. It's not going to get any better, no matter how many times I rewrite it, so you may as well have it now. And before people start fretting – no, Maura is not, and will not, die!

Chapter Fourteen: Three Warning Shots 

Cautiously, Rikash flew over the area that housed the immortal menagerie. He couldn't see any humans in it, and he knew Ozorne was at the peace talks. He should attend those soon, but first he wanted to check up on Zircah, though it seemed rather pointless. If Ozorne cast a spell to kill, he had no doubts that it would. Still, he drifted innocently closer and then surreptitiously dropped into the open courtyard.

Barzha looked up, startled, and shook her head at him. "You shouldn't be here."

Rikash shrugged helplessly. "Forgive me, my queen, but I wanted to see how… you all were."

Hebakh raised his eyebrows at this, but said nothing. Barzha was a little more obvious in her scepticism. "Oh, all of us? How… nice. You're going soft, Rikash. I never thought I'd say that of you, but there you are."

Rikash glared at her sullenly and skulked closer. "I have come up with a plan, you know. I thought I deserved some time off for being so brilliant." Somehow he didn't think the Graveyard Hag would take kindly to being mentioned, so he left her out of it. Hebakh perked up, interest showing in his features.

"Well, don't say anything about it in here." He said. Zircah shifted and let out a soft run of Stormwing commentary. Rikash's gaze transferred itself to her and he winced even as he moved closer to peer over her. Already she looked as though she had been sick for months. It was a very strange thing, to see a Stormwing looking less than at perfect health, and yet without any wounds. It was frightening. He looked away hastily.

"I… I must go. I have to join the peace talks, with Jokhun." He said, disappointment showing in his tone. Barzha nodded.

"If you get us out of here, she may heal." She said calmly. "Do not give up hope so easily."

Rikash bowed his head and flapped his way out of the menagerie. He hoped she was right.

Running, running through chilly, ill-lit corridors, running and screaming…

…Reaching fearlessly for the skin, the vibrant skin. So beautiful. So horrible… so horribly, horribly dead… She couldn't help it, couldn't save it, couldn't stop its pain…

A flash. Stop the pain.

She saw the sands, shifting, whipping with fury, the storm was rising, the dark was falling. The dark was falling and yet the light was growing, growing and blinding her, paining her eyes with its intensity, burning with holy light until she couldn't stand it.

She screamed.

Silence.

Tap. Tap tap. Scratching of a hundred thousand nails. Scuffles of sound against the glassy blackness, scratching, scratching. Gnawing. She could hear them, but she could see nothing. She could hear, but she couldn't call.

The rats.

She reached for them. She knew something was wrong, that she must use their strength to pull herself from the blackness. But they were ignoring her. No, not ignoring, just not hearing. Not waiting for the chance to be of use.

Rats are always like that.

Wait, wait for me. Help me out of this place. You can do it. You're so strong. There are so many of you… But they were running, running away. They had more important things to do, things that the Mistress bade them. The Mistress was taking action, now.

They seemed vaguely regretful that she had gotten in the Mistress' way.

Maura skidded to a halt in front of a candelabra, brown hair askew. She grabbed at the stick, but the shadows loomed behind her and with a scream, she whirled to confront her attacker.

Blackness and the blood scent. The soft, sweet sounds of the jungle. All were gone in this strange place. She blinked, confused.

Awake?

She didn't want to be awake. She curled, nose to tail, feet tucked under, feeling hollow. She watched the fire-and-shadow tail twitch before her as her eyes went dull.

Frightened shrieks, rampant and chaotic emotions spinning through the air as a thousand rats streamed from a many-layered cake. She moved away from it, the charged atmosphere hurting her. She screamed again.

The Banjiku gathered around the eagle-girl. She was clutching her head, exclaiming loudly in pain. They chattered and clicked frantically at her, trying to wake her from the strange dream. She beat at bars that were not there, shrieked names that they did not know. Finally, she slumped to the floor, unconscious. Tano shook her gently and jumped when her eyes opened instantly.

"The gods, the captured gods!" The eagle-girl jabbered, sitting up too fast. "She is just like the god's daughter who greeted us. Just like…" She trailed off and fainted again. Tano's eyes widened in understanding. He beckoned his friends to help care for the eagle-girl. Then he set off to find the gods that she had spoken of.

The storm had reached Carthak. Her anger boiled, a stream of magma ready to explode. She held out her old, wizened hands.

Hands?

Lightning crackled from the skies, charged for the faces of a man she hated. Gold smattered into a thousand melted globules, spreading and cooling across marble tiles. Humans shrieked and ran from the scene. Slowly her anger faded, and the storm dissipated. Surely he would heed this.

Memories, memories, a cold stone hall. Serving mortals lined the walls, their fear a heavy scent in the air. Three children were before her – she recognised this scene. Zhaneh Bitterclaws held out her wings to the children. Zircah cried as they were thrust forward upon the bladed feathers, their blood flooding the floor.

A single silver feather touched the nape of a darkly tanned neck, hidden by gilded braids.

Giant warrior mounted on his faithful steed, striding through the doll-house city, not crushing the buildings, but galloping on air. Burning hoof prints were left behind. He roared with anguish in an ancient tongue, and galloped away again, taking away any hope that had lingered in the air. Zircah wailed at the volume of his voice.

Her own scream turned into the chirping of many birds. Daine and Ozorne dined together somewhere brightly lit. Daine drank from a goblet and set it down, a frown appearing on her face. A bird shrieked danger, and Veralidaine fell to the cold marble floor. Ozorne snapped his fingers and watched coldly as she was carried away.

Tunnel. Left turn, tunnel. Right turn, staircase, long tunnel.

Circling, circling, silver and gold shining in the moonlight, mail feathers glinting, silken hair flying out behind him with the rattle of bones. Silver streams shot from the sky, poured like rain and her knight plummeted into deep water. Silver bubbled and then trickled away, leaving the semblance of two silver eyes reflected from the surface.

**…Uusoae…**

Six muskets in a row, one man standing tall. Six shots. Mortal man crumples and scarlet spreads as the audience roars…

Rikash stared down at Zircah from the roof of the courtyard as she strained against the weight of Barzha and Hebakh on her wings, screaming. He glanced away, squinting into the distant arena. It was over. Salmalín was dead, Veralidaine vanished and Zircah was all but dead. What was the Goddess' plan now? What did the Hag want him to do? He hung his head. It was all over.

~*~

A/N: I think Rikash-chan gives up too easily. I'm so sorry for the short, boring chapter. =( The next one is far better, promise. Thanks to my reviewers. 33


	16. Wings of Steel

Disclaimer: Anything you've not heard of, I own. Capice?

A/N: ^^; Sorry this took so long. My muse was apparently comatose for a while. One thing – my logic on the muskets thing was that if they had cannons, they had muskets. And I really couldn't see something like the six-Carthaki-war-cannon salute happening. ^^ Even at the behest of our _dearest_ emperor mage.

Chapter Fifteen: Wings of Steel

Rikash was circling high above the docks when he heard it. It wasn't even a sound so much as a sudden overwhelming feeling of panic and claustrophobia that made him gasp. Dizziness wracked him, and as he took a nose dive he heard the screams from the docks below as several of the crocodiles that had been sunning themselves surged awake and up the bank, snapping at the humans above them and each other. The sea birds that milled in the air around him turned on the fisher folk they had been pilfering bait from; dogs and cats snarled viciously at their masters; caged finches shrieked shrill defiance. Then the humans began to respond, overturning birdcages, flinging previously mild-mannered felines into the streets and bludgeoning their snarling canine companions. Rikash looked on, horrified, before his mind clicked onto an explanation. Only a massive disturbance in the realm or a wild mage could have caused so much chaos so swiftly. That suggested one of two things: something very bad had happened to the realm around him, or...

"Zircah..." He beat his wings furiously, not particularly caring if mortals saw him as he raced for the Imperial Palace. Since the execution of the mage Salmalín, the peace talks had quite obviously ceased. This left Rikash with time to burn, most of it spent mulling over the futility of the situation. Veralidaine had vanished and was of absolutely no use. Zircah was out of action (_Dying... don't try to fool yourself, Moonsword..._) and Rikash himself was as good as useless with little to no idea of what the gods wanted here. All he was really interested in was the death of Ozorne, and with the power of the emperor mage increasing every passing moment, that did not seem likely to occur soon.

Rikash slowed as he neared the Immortal menagerie, and was glad he had done so when he saw Ozorne there. For a moment he was tempted to simply bear down on the emperor with all the leaden weight of his wings, teeth and talons, but a stray strand of reason held him back and made him land silently on the roof outside the menagerie. He heard Ozorne speaking softly to himself.

"Such a shame. Such a dreadful shame that you must sleep forever, Dragonling, for one of your kind could easily dissolve these wards."

"I hope her people find you." Barzha's velvet tone was slick with venom. "It would amuse me greatly to see what they would do to you for imprisoning one of their kits."

Ozorne laughed, low and sinister. "You would do well to hold your tongue, my dear. You would not believe the ways in which we can make your consort suffer."

Barzha must have done something Ozorne found displeasing, for Rikash heard a muffled cry of agony from Hebakh. Even though his chest burned with fury, he dared not move, for any sound might alert the emperor to his presence. Ozorne made a dismissive sound.

"We tire of your antics. The day will come soon when you will cease to amuse us. It will be the same day we destroy you." There was a pause, then the opening and closing of heavy doors. Barzha's voice, speaking softly to her mate.

"Hebakh. Are you badly hurt? …my love?"

Rikash bit his lip. He hated to intrude on their privacy, but… he had to know what the animals on the docks had been reacting to. He beat his wings once, twice and floated down to the bare space beside the cage of the three Stormwings. Barzha glanced at him, looking both younger and older in the same moment with surprise and something no one ever wanted to see in their leader – fear.

"You shouldn't be here. He comes often, now." She chided briefly, then returned her attention to her mate. Hebakh's teeth were clenched as he struggled to regain his feet. Rikash scowled.

"Forget the plan; I'm going to kill him myself." He vowed. Zircah shifted with an oddly soothing tinkle of feathers and Rikash looked at her. It was almost painful to see her now. Skin as pale as ice stretched taut over her cheekbones, her filthy hair a ratty ebon to contrast her pallor. "Did anything happen to her? Just now?" Sudden dark thought. "Did Ozorne hurt her?" Thoughts of murder. Barzha shook her head.

"No. It wasn't her, for all that she felt it. As did you, I imagine. She was sympathising, though with whom I don't know." She said softly.

"Did she… say anything?" _The only one she could have been sympathising with is Daine, particularly with the reaction of the mortal realm's beasts…_

"She said 'caged'," Hebakh muttered, his mood having taken a dive since Ozorne's spell. "Mistress of stating the obvious."

Rikash frowned. _If she was sympathising…_ "Yes." He murmured thoughtfully. "I… believe I have things to see to. My queen, my lord, if you will excuse me? I hope to return at dusk." He took several running steps and flung himself into the skies above the menagerie. In her sleep, Zircah began to cry.

The Banjiku had felt the surge, and had systematically called to all the creatures of their kind to be certain of what they had felt. Tano recognised Zek among the wards of the monkey girls Rin and Kulu. At his request, they spoke with the marmoset for a few minutes. Eventually Rin stood, scratched his chin with a reassuring chirp, and walked over to speak with Tano.

"He is frightened for the god-child. He says… the emperor took the dragon. I think he might know where the god-child is." Rin said. "Hard to tell. He is different monkey than we are used to."

Tano frowned and called to Chirp. The cheetah male padded over curiously. Tano chattered at him, explaining. "Take Zek to where god-child is. Take keys."

The cheetah licked Tano's hand. _I will take littleZek to the allspeaker. Come, littleZek. I promise I will not hurt you._ The tiny marmoset scampered up the cheetah's leg with many screeched misgivings. Chirp yawned, showing his fangs, and moved off at a slow walk with Zek flattened against his neck.

Rikash had flown all over Carthak, trying to determine where Daine could be held most effectively. He had not had much luck, and was flying back over the University of Carthak when he saw her, sitting in the midst of the campus graveyard, feeding the rats and the ravens that had gathered around her. Rikash scowled as he saw her and went into a stoop. She wasn't going to escape him. He scared the ravens as he landed, but the Graveyard Hag did not look in the least surprised to see him.

"I suppose you're going to complain at me, too." She grumbled, tearing large chunks of raw meat with her fingers for the ravens.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Rikash drawled, bitingly sarcastic. The Hag snorted and dusted her fingers of the beast flesh. "I want to know where Veralidaine is, and what you're doing to give her some assistance."

"Help her!" The Graveyard Hag sputtered indignantly. "Do you think she raises the dead on her own? As for where she is, well, you'll find out soon enough, as will all of Carthak. You would do well to get back to your prophet, bonehead, because she certainly won't survive this without you." She raised a gnarled finger to the darkening sky and the blood red seeping across the scant clouds as the sun crawled to hide behind the horizon. "Dusk is here, and I have children to call. You… you have your own gifts." She added cryptically, and vanished with a wild cackle.

Rikash took off, winging his way back to the palace as fast as he could. In Carthak, the Graveyard Hag's word was law – or at least, that was the way it had been. He wasn't going to risk any problems with Zircah's state by tarrying around the University. He passed over Ozorne, reading in the last vestiges of sunlight, and scowled. _Soon your reign will be over,_ he thought viciously. _Soon you will conform to Stormwing justice._

As he swept down towards the menagerie of the immortals, he became aware that the palace was practically silent. He could see no animals within the palace walls. It was as though the place was dead. He landed beside Ozorne's Stormwing captives. Hebakh peered at him.

"What's happening? It's quiet."

"You'll be out soon, I'm given to understand. I think it's starting." Rikash murmured. He glanced at Zircah. "She must reach a healer the moment we escape."

"Yes. You'll have to take her. Hebakh and I will be busy cleaning up the corpse of the emperor." Barzha agreed quickly. "You might have difficulty getting through the gates."

Rikash smiled humourlessly. "If the Graveyard Hag herself doesn't open the gates for her, I will be very much surprised." _And also very much inclined to kamikaze in an attempt to do the Hag some damage._ "Zircah is important to a lot of people, I've found."

Barzha shot a sideways glance at Hebakh. "You don't say?"

They waited. In the distance they heard screams and crashes, which came closer and closer over the next half hour. Loud animal cries came next, and Rikash's eyes widened as the door to the courtyard was smashed by the bony, burning horns of a… Rikash didn't even know what to call it. The creature collapsed, the stench of its charred boned flooding the area. Behind it came more of the great skeletons, gathering around the cages and straining at the bars of Kitten's prison.

"What in the name of the gods?" Barzha wondered aloud. "What are they doing here? The age of dinosaurs ended… long ago." The skeletons turned to eye them. Rikash thought about everything the Graveyard Hag had said and decided to take a chance.

"We're on Daine's side." He said. "Sort of. You'll not get through those bars." Empty eye sockets stared at him, then filed quietly out of the room even as the hurrok and the griffin screamed challenge. He heard the dinosaurs smashing their way through more walls, and then an eerie hyena cackle. Rikash cleared his throat. "It might be nice to know what's going on." He said. "I'll be back as soon as I find Daine. I'll be fast."

__

She certainly won't survive this without you.

Rikash lifted into the air and coughed at the smoke in the air. He stared around him with watering eyes, shocked at the damage that had been wrought. The smoke was from nearby sections of the palace that were in flames. The mortal creatures from the common menagerie were fleeing in a great, multi-raced herd from the flames, seemingly deciding that in this dangerous outside world, their best chance was to stick together and run.

But there were creatures pausing to sniff the air. Spotted creatures that let out wild whoops of eerie laughter as they milled together. There were only three of them. _Hyenas._ The children of the Graveyard Hag. They howled together briefly, a sound that chilled even the silver blood that ran through Rikash's veins. They ran off in the opposite direction to the other animals, searching for something. Someone. _Daine_. He followed them.

It was hard to trail the hyenas through the smoke and the rubble, but finally their well-camouflaged bodies converged on the path of a phalanx of skeleton beasts and a gigantic furred elephant. Rikash breathed in, relieved as in spotted Daine astride the mammoth's shoulders, and coughed his way to the ground as the smoke choked him. He managed to recover himself as he neared Daine, and landed on one of the more stable pieces of rubble – a balcony hand rail propped between a chunk of marble and a broken column. He resisted the urge to pull a face at Daine; the girl was gaping at him, eyes so wide open that they were practically bugging out of her head.

"I believe she felt you might require assistance," He drawled, feeling that Daine should know what he was talking about instinctively. "You might want to know, a company of dinosaur skeletons opened the menagerie cages and dumped trees into the pits so the animals could climb out."

Daine seemed to shake herself out of her shock. "Kitten? My dragon? I dreamed she was in the immortals' menagerie."

"You dreamed truly. She is there under a sleep-spell. Your friends tried to break into that collection, but failed. The spells on the gate and the cages are keyed to Ozorne. They won't give way until he dies."

There was a pause as the hyenas had their say with Daine. Not for the first time, Rikash wished he could hear the wild mage and the voices of her friends. It got irritating when the only person who could speak to you was staring at a dog beast and nodding sympathetically. Then Daine tapped the shoulder of the mammoth that was carrying her. "Lift me down please?" The mammoth complied, while the wild mage's newest pet – the marmoset – squeaked in protest. "I want to shapeshift and become one of you. Then we can hunt the emperor together, if you're willing." One of the hyenas yipped in something that sounded like amusement. Daine smiled, then her eyes travelled back to Rikash. "It just occurred to me – what in the name of all the Horse Lords are you doing here?"

Rikash tried to look unworried, ruffling his feathers calmly. "I was paying my respects to my _true_ sovereign, Queen Barzha, and her consort."

Daine scowled disbelievingly. "Rikash-"

He resisted the urge to laugh. "Well, as it happens, I'd heard that tonight would be an interesting night for Carthak."

"You mean the Graveyard Hag told you."

"Perhaps." This time Rikash did smile. _Not bloody willingly, let me tell you, mortal._ "There's a chance that the emperor might feel the need to use the gift that I gave him. I wanted to be here to see the fun." _I wanted to stand guard and see him die._

Daine frowned. "If he has any sense, he's run off."

"Ah, but a man with sense would never have ignored so many warnings. I doubt he has fled."

"He killed Numair." Daine said hoarsely. Rikash looked up at the girl, recognising at last the symptoms of grief. He had not stopped to think of how it had affected her. It had been selfish of him, but he had only thought...

"I know. I'm sorry." He was sorry. She believed him.

"Me too." She rubbed at her eyes, turning back to her skeleton army, perhaps to hide her tears. "Will you go on tearing things up? I don't know if you can follow where I'm about to go, and I really want to leave this place a ruin." Rikash looked about him. _I think you're well on the way to that._ He watched as Zek leapt from the back of the mammoth onto Daine's shoulder, as the girl farewelled her army with fond pats. Finally, she turned back to Rikash.

"Would you look after Zek, and see that he comes to no harm?" She stroked the marmoset's head gently. Rikash frowned, but nodded and jumped from his balcony rail. As he landed he said,

"If he does not object, I will place him in the dragon's cage."

Daine looked into his eyes, and he could tell she was wondering the same thing as he was – why was she trusting him with this? "I'd hate for anything to happen to Zek. Mithros knows why, but I trust you." She kissed the top of the marmoset's head and placed him carefully on Rikash's shoulder. Rikash winced as the creature grabbed fistfuls of his hair and made a mental note to never do this again. Once the little monkey-thing had stopped pulling at his hair, he took to the air and hovered there for a few moments.

"Good hunting." He told Daine, and flapped his way higher. Zek's claws scraped the back of his neck and he grit his teeth. "Stop pulling. I'm hardly about to fall out of the sky, and you've got a tight enough grip that a dragon couldn't pry you out of my hair." Zek chattered angrily, and Rikash sighed. "If I wasn't already heading to the menagerie, I wouldn't bother taking you." He sneered in annoyance, making the best use he could of the cooler night air to give him speed through the smoky skies. It was much harder to keep himself aloft, though the heat from the fires was helpful, he supposed.

Rikash landed above Kitten's cage in the menagerie and said, "Last stop. Get off my hair." Zek scrambled down his chest and into the dragon's cage to chitter worriedly at the dragon on the pedestal. Rikash hopped across the top of the remaining cages to peer down at Zircah, Barzha and Hebakh.

"Shouldn't be long now. Daine is hunting."

"Oh, that's a shame." Barzha commented. "I really did want to watch him die… I don't suppose you could go and watch for us?" She asked Rikash. He gave her a look.

"With all due respect, my Queen, there is simply no way in the realm of Chaos that I am leaving this cage until Ozorne is well and truly dead. And then I am taking her to the Green Lady." He said pointedly. Barzha sighed.

"I thought as much. Waste of fireworks, if you ask me."

Rikash refrained from comment. Barzha and Hebakh waited below him in silence, but Zircah seemed to be getting restless. He glanced down at her from time to time at the clank of her feathers against each other. He looked up again into the dark night sky and watched the black billowing smoke, tinged golden with reflected firelight.

Zircah stirred again. "_And clay feet are given wings to fly…_" She murmured. Rikash peered down at her curiously, then froze as the shattered remnants of the great doors were pushed aside. Prince Kaddar entered the menagerie, looking about him worriedly. He stood at the bars of the griffin cage, appearing not to have noticed that there was an extra Stormwing perched atop the cage that held his monarchs. Kaddar glanced back over his shoulder, and Rikash closed his eyes, sensing the rising fear. Delicious fear. He drew on it and grinned wickedly.

The fear errupted into all new heights as the door was battered aside by four of the spotted hyenas. Kaddar flickered, and Ozorne stood there instead, his normally dark tanned face lily pale in comparison. Rikash's grin widened. This would be fun to watch. The hyenas would tear the human apart, so weak was he without his magic. He glanced down at Barzha.

"Well, look at that. Front row seats."

A hyena launched itself at Ozorne, only to be repelled by the man's magical shield. Two of its brethren snarled and beat themselves against the sheild, sparking weak flares of light as they impacted. The last hyena leapt, and this time the shield barely flickered. Two of the beasts began to circle, laughing eerily. Rikash had to stifle a shudder - no wonder these beasts were favourites of the Graveyard Hag.

The real Kaddar burst in, followed by a blond mage and... Rikash blinked. Numair? The blond mage, Lindhall, cried "No!" and threw out a magical barrier to encircle Ozorne. The hyena standing directly in front of Ozorne snarled furiously, cheated of her prey. Kaddar looked tired.

"You'll have to choose, Uncle. Abdication and imprisonment - or the hyenas. You must give in. Your Gift is almost used up. We can see you're taking it from your own life force, now." He sounded almost unhappy. Rikash couldn't understand why.

Ozorne swayed, his eyes wild. "Abdi-? Never!"

Kaddar slumped. "Then it must be the hyenas, just as the Graveyard Hag promised."

Barzha beat a wing against the bars of her cage. "Give him to the animals! They have worked hard for his flesh - let them have it! Let them feast, so _we_ can sup on his fear as he has supped on ours!" The hyenas let loose a series of hollow yips that made Ozorne shiver with terror. One stalked up to the barrier, lowering its head and eyeing him with disturbing intelligence. Ozorne's eyes darted feverishly from the hyena to the Stormwing Queen and her mate. His eyes suddenly brightened.

"Promises, is it?" He said, sounding as though he were about to laugh in relief. "Well, I have a promise in reserve!" His hands raised to fumble through his hair, where something silver glinted. Barzha and Hebakh shuffled around Zircah to stare at the emperor with frightening intensity. Rikash clenched his claws around the bar and tried not to laugh as the poor, foolish mortal brought out Zircah's feather. "See! I have _this_ promise!" With a hysterical laugh, he stabbed it into his arm, just as a hyena lost patience and hurled itself at the barrier.

There was a bright flash of light and a yelping snarl. The hyena staggered back, bleeding, and a Stormwing with the face and shoulders of Ozorne stretched his wings. The air was filled with musical chimes as the spells on the cages shattered, releasing the griffin, hurroks, and all the other immortals. Lindhall raised his hands and released a foggy magic to immobilise the more dangerous creatures until they could be dealt with.

Zircah coughed several times, but already he could see the blood flowing back into her limbs.

Rikash couldn't help it. He started to laugh. Barzha and Hebakh cowled their wings about them and then opened them fully, stretching each feather and letting them fall back with muted clicks like teeth striking bone. "Humans, stay out of this. Now he is in _our_ form he must answer to Stormwing justice." She sounded distinctly pleased about this, stepping slowly forward and into striking range.

Ozorne's face paled once more, as though he had only just realised. "No! I am the Emperor Mage, lord of Carthak-"

"No immortal may hold a throne. Wake up, _Emperor Mage_." Hebakh taunted coldly, voice filled with sadistic amusement. "Do you see _now_ the trap that was laid for you?"

Rikash felt it was time to add his two coppers. "No immortal may rule over humans, or use human magic." He drifted calmly to the ground beside Zircah and looked up, eyes glittering, and teeth bared in a grin that was not. "Go ahead - try it."

Ozorne croaked something and was instantly blown backwards to crash into a wall. He lay, stunned. Numair said, "You forgot your earliest lessons, Ozorne. Once you take immortal shape, you can never change back." He sounded disgusted.

Barzha shrieked a laugh. "He is _mine!_ First I take payment from him, and then from that motherlesss worm Jokhun!" She beat her wings and rose into the air with her mate close behind. She circled twice above the menagerie and did a quick twirl, apparently quite glad to have full mobility back.

Ozorne struggled to stand up, having trouble with his awkward new talons. "I-I have magic! I have Stormwing magic!"

Rikash smirked. "Of course you do, sweetheart. Do you know how to use it?" He was perfectly happy to let his queen defeat this worm. It wasn't worth the effort doing it himself. As though to back up this thought, a bolt of lightning edged with scarlet struck the ground just in front of Ozorne, sending dust and chips of stone all over the new Stormwing. Ozorne looked hopeless, as though he were about to break down and cry at last. Rikash sneered. "You'll get the hang of it in a few days or so. If you live that long. There _is_ a reason the former King Jokhun didn't want to fight Barzha Razorwing on her terms." Another bolt struck the flagstones behind Ozorne, spraying him with marble chips. He swore viciously and leapt clumsily into the air, pumping his wings too much and in the wrong direction. Rikash rolled his eyes. _Barzha, now you're just being silly. Why miss on purpose? Hit him with bolts that hurt, but don't wound. It's more fun, I promise._

He sighed as he saw another bolt streak past Ozorne. "I must go after him. I wouldn't like him to lose interest, not after it took so much work to get him into the proper claws." He told the humans. He saw a faint smile tug the corner of Numair's mouth. He glanced at the hyenas. "Is one of you Daine?"

The most agressive one trotted forward. Rikash looked down at her. "If it counts for anything - though I'm not sure that it does - you have my gratitude." He winked at Numair. "And things aren't as bad as you think. You might look around." He spread his wings and took a few waddling steps back. "Now, move back. I need some more room."

As Daine obeyed, he flapped twice at the air in front of him. Zircah rose several feet off the ground, her hair falling back behind her to graze the floor with metal feathers. He raised her a foot more, then formed a golden net around her carefully. It would be too much effort to levitate her all the way into the Divine Realms. He nodded to the humans, then took off, dragging the net behind him. As the mortals watched the night sky, there was a crack, and a silvery fog bloomed above Carthak. Rikash flew into it, and was gone.

~*~

A/N: I had to change that scene a little bit, or it wouldn't quite have worked. :) Next chapter... Goddess, but this isn't far from ending! I never thought it would, and now it's closer than I ever dreamed it would be. Thanks to Wyrren, because she pesters me as much as I do her about fanfics. ^^ Please review and let me know what you think.

Next chapter... Rikash finally gets poor Zircah to some decent medical help. About time!


	17. Healing Dreams

Disclaimer: I don't own anyone except Zircah and the other people you haven't heard of.

A/N: Good grief. I am so horribly sorry this took so long. This story is fast losing steam. But it was my baby for so long that I refuse to abandon it. So I've been working very sluggishly. And here it is, for you.

Chapter Sixteen: Healing Dreams

Sarra didn't think she would ever get over the fact that even in the Divine Realms it occasionally grew uncomfortably hot and there was nothing she or anyone else could do about it. She pushed blond strands away from her face, tucking them behind her ears and adjusting the brim of the wide straw hat she wore. It was ridiculous, really. She wondered idly why mortals worshipped the gods. Apart from it being the natural order of things, there wasn't a great deal of benefit in it for them. She smiled slightly as she trailed her fingers through the warm earth, cupping her hands gently around a new daffodil bulb. She could encourage its growth if she really wanted to, but somehow she felt that was cheating. Part of the fun of gardening, and the skill behind it, was encouraging things to grow without magic. She tucked the bulb carefully into the soil and stood up, dusting her hands off on her apron.

She turned around to find her husband watching her, the hot sun making his tawny skin gleam green in mottled patches. She smiled at him. "It's so hot today. I didn't think you'd be hunting."

Weiryn, god of the hunt, shrugged. "Later, perhaps. When the sun goes down."

She walked to him and put her arms around his neck gently. "Lazy thing." She rebuked him with a smile. He in turn wrapped his arms about her waist, shaking his head as though she displeased him. She had long grown used to his taciturn nature, and she took off her hat and set it on his head with a childish grin.

He brushed it away almost immediately, a frown appearing on his features. Sarra's face showed her surprise, but he raised his hand from where it had lain on her lower back and pointed into the sky. She turned around and squinted determinedly after the line of sight he had given her.

Her eyes fixed upon a large, oddly shaped object in the sky. She smiled suddenly. "Is that Zircah? What's she carrying?"

Weiryn's face betrayed no such happiness. "No… it's another Stormwing. I can't see what it carries, not yet."

They both waited, sun beating down on them, as the Stormwing flapped wearily closer. Then Weiryn made a sound low in his throat. "Sarra, shape a nest… make a new room, with a nest in it. I think this new Stormwing carries Zircah."

Sarra had known the female Stormwing for long enough to know that this would never happen unless Zircah was grievously injured. She hastened to do her husband's bidding. Weiryn stood alone, waiting and watching as the details of the carrier Stormwing became clearer to him. Almost certainly male, long blond hair was easily visible from the way it caught the sunlight. Not a great deal more than this could be ascertained from such a distance, apart from the fact that the male was tanned and well-muscled. He carried Zircah in a golden net, and he flew as though greatly wearied. Weiryn had no doubt that this was so; wherever he had flown from could not have been close, and the added weight of another pair of steel wings could not have been an easy burden.

He raised an arm in greeting to the blond Stormwing, and pointed to the softest area of long grass. The male seemed to understand this, as he began to steadily drop his altitude. He flew in an unsteady glide that originally aimed for the grass but had to be redirected every dozen yards as Zircah's weight dragged him down. Nevertheless, he lay down his bundle with more care than Weiryn had ever seen in a Stormwing before flapping a few yards away and all but nose-diving into the ground himself.

Sarra came running from the house as the male's golden net dissipated out of sheer exhaustion. Weiryn beckoned to her and together they struggled to pick Zircah up as the male lay panting in the grass. The slight hill up to the house and the new Stormwing eyrie nearly defeated them, burdened as they were by two enormous steel wings and a human body, wasted as it was by illness. Sarra's face paled at what she no doubt perceived as a horrendous injury done to body and spirit. Weiryn left her by the nest when they had wrestled Zircah's unresisting form into it, to do what she could while he spoke to the male.

He had fought his way to his feet again, wings held heavy as near to his sides as he could manage. Their tips dragged at the ground as he crabbed toward the house in an awkward, tired skip. Weiryn shook his head at the male, who looked rather annoyed, but resigned. He took a few deep, steadying breaths and asked, "Will she be all right?"

Weiryn stared at him for a few moments. There was a level of concern in his voice, rare in Stormwings. "Are you her mate?" He felt at once amused and slightly indignant. There was a time when Zircah would have informed him of everything. Perhaps no longer, if he had not even been told about her taking a mate… but the expression on the male's face told him that his assumption had been wrong before flustered words could reassure him.

"No! No, I'm not, I'm just… I'm Rikash Moonsword of Stone Tree Nation." He said, trying to regain some semblance of dignity, and his breath. "She has been a captive of Emperor Ozorne of Carthak for some weeks, and I believe he had a harmful spell upon her. Ozorne was turned to a Stormwing, but the effects of the spell linger still…" Rikash shifted slightly, and it was plain to Weiryn that no matter how he might deny it, he was deeply concerned for Zircah.

The god of the hunt nodded slowly. "The Green Lady will care for her. Go, and tell her of this spell, and what has happened to Zircah. It may help her to heal faster."

Rikash nodded and hobbled awkwardly to the house, cursing the slope that made his walk that much more difficult. When he finally reached the new stable, he hopped up on the half-door, leaving deep gouges in the wood when his heavy wings dragged across the surface. Sarra glanced up from where she had been peering over Zircah's prone body, but Rikash wasn't interested in the goddess. He hopped down from the door and crossed the floor to settle himself on the edge of Zircah's nest, out of Sarra's way.

She looked at him with sympathy for a moment. "What happened to her?" She asked softly, much more emotion detectable in her voice than there had been in Weiryn's. Rikash looked at her wearily, then spilled out the whole sorry tale from beginning to end. She listened intently until he was done, then pursed her lips and thought hard, both hands straying to press lightly on her temples. Rikash's gaze strayed back down to Zircah.

Sarra opened her eyes again, and smiled, resting both hands lightly on the top edge of Zircah's lax wing. "Well, I'll do my best for her. She shouldn't need anything more than a restorative and time to recover, since Ozorne's magic should have lost all power when he was changed."

Rikash nodded, the goddess' quiet certainty reassuring him slightly. "I will watch her, if you do not object." Sarra's lips twitched. Somehow she got the impression that her disapproving was not going to budge him from the room unless she got out the fire and brimstone.

"No. It would be good for her to have someone close to her. Since she is a Wild Mage." She said calmly. "However, this is a one-Stormwing nest." Sarra raised her hand and made a tugging motion. A thick wooden bar slid obediently out of the wall, and Rikash settled onto it gratefully. "Make yourself comfortable, and I'll do what I can for Zircah."

She bustled away to mix up a potion. When she returned, Rikash was deep in exhausted slumber, his face unguarded in sleep. Now that his control was gone, she could see the drawn, haggard cast to his features. Sarra smiled, gratified by how worried the male appeared to be, and went to work.

*

Time passed. At the end of the first week, Zircah's colour had improved, and her breathing was no longer laboured and painful. Sarra stopped really _fussing_ over her then; she was healing more rapidly than anyone she had ever seen. On a human (even on another Stormwing, she supposed) she would have expected months on end of constant maintenance before such a marked improvement. But it seemed that Zircah, even asleep, was determined to regain health.

"Lift."

Rikash lifted up his left foot and balanced on his right obediently as Sarra dusted around him. He switched feet when she asked, and went back to watching Zircah like a hawk.

"You should go outside for a while." Sarra commented, flinging wide the shutters. "She doesn't have the nightmares any more, you know. I hardly think she'll be pleased if she wakes up and you can barely fly because you've been idle all this time."

Rikash gave her a _look_. Sarra shrugged. "Well, suit yourself, Rikash. But really, don't you think your queen would like to hear—no? All right then." She quit the additional room quickly. Rikash went back to staring at Zircah.

True, Barzha and Hebakh would probably want some sort of report. True, there were probably things happening in the mortal realm, and elsewhere in the Divine Realms, that he would be better off knowing about. But Sarra had said that having someone close to Zircah would help, presumably because of the Wild Mage's tenuous connection to all of those around her. And if it would help her to have him there, then he wasn't moving.

*

Two days later, the weather in the Divine Realms was decidedly soggy. Sarra had closed both shutters and the door in the additional room, but before she had managed, Rikash had had to block off the window with his broad wings so that the howling squall outside wouldn't chill Zircah.

Now he dripped dry on his perch at one end of her nest, the room lit softly with the light of several oil lamps. Thunder boomed.

Rikash actually quite liked storms, particularly in the Divine Realms. Compared to the usually baking heat of the Stonemaze, the soothing rush of water from the skies was pleasant, seeping away the vicious heat of the day. However, while the rain made him complacent and sleepy, he had always noticed that Zircah had seemed more active on those days of rain.

Thunder rolled, and she shifted slightly in her nest, brows knitting. Rikash blinked. This was the second time she had moved today. The first day in weeks he had seen movement from her that was not in protest at the nightmares behind her eyelids. He held his breath for a few moments, and then chastised himself for being stupid.

"…Zircah?"

That sounded idiotically soppy, and if she was at all awake or coherent, she would tell him so.

"Bladewing, wake up."

That sounded better.

The expression on her face became one of refusal, and the tip of her tongue snaked out to lick her dry, chapped lips. She shifted and sighed in frustration. Rikash very nearly grinned.

"Bladewing, are you awake?"

Very slowly, her face softened, and then became her usual mask. Her eyes opened, and she stared at him blearily for a moment before wincing even at the dim light. Rikash did grin, then, pure unadulterated relief loosening his control.

"It lives!" He declared, perhaps too loudly. Zircah opened her eyes again and frowned at him in puzzlement.

"I had… the strangest dreams." She muttered in a voice gravely with disuse and thick with sleep, slowly relaxing her sensitive eyes as they got used to the light in the room.

"I wager you did." Rikash said, ruffling his damp wings. "Ozorne had you under a spell and locked you up in his menagerie with Queen Barzha and Lord Hebakh." Zircah stared at him blankly for a few seconds. Then,

"That insolent bastard!" She hissed forcefully. Rikash smirked.

"Oh, don't worry about him. Barzha and Hebakh have no doubt taken care of him by now." He said cheerily. "Probably cut off his wings and beat him with them."

"…wings…?" Zircah asked, confused. Then she made a soft moaning sound. "Oh no… then I dreamed truly after all. He isn't dead, but hiding."

Rikash's face fell, but only by a little bit. "Oh."

"Oh? Is that all you have to say? And where have you been that you didn't know about this?" Zircah demanded, her voice going slightly squeaky at the sudden over-use. Rikash gave her a look that was at once amused and… something else.

"I've been watching you, Bladewing. You've been out of action for nearly three weeks in the Divine Realm." There was something in his voice she hadn't heard for a long while, either. The sort of softness he had used when conversing with Maura of Dunlath. That same kindness.

"…oh." She said in a small voice, suddenly looking a bit lost.

Rikash was in three minds at this point. One of them was laughing hysterically and teasing her until she got up and tried to clobber him with one of her wings. Another was sensibly hobble-walking out to inform Sarra and Weiryn that their patient had awoken.

The third was wandering around, completely lost and befuddled somewhere in her cloudy blue gaze, and was of no use to anyone.

After a few moments, Rikash got a hold of himself. "Sarraaaaaa!"

~*~

A/N: *weeps* I am so, so, SO SORRY about the length of time it's taken me to get this out. I swear this fic will be updated more often since I'm on holidays now! T_T Thanks to Wyrren, who has been subtly and dutifully pestering me at random intervals. Please review, if only to tell me to get my lazy ass in gear.


	18. News from Stone Tree Nation

Disclaimer: I do not own anybody except for Zircah Bladewing. She be mine. Even if Rikash is slowly but surely stealing her from me. shakes fist at Rikash

A/N: Well, so much for that... OK, the truth this time. This fic has lost its zip, zing, vim, you get the picture. Couple this with the intrusion of other fandoms, the fact that I'm in my final year of highschool and the fact that I just don't have time to reread The Immortals Quartet, and you'll understand why this fic is updated so seldom. Still. Zircah is one of my favourite creations, and I do not plan on giving her up so easily. But no promises. Expect no updates for at least three months after this chapter, for you'll be sorely disappointed.

**Wings of Steel**

Chapter Seventeen: News from Stone Tree Nation

It took a while to convince Zircah that she absolutely was not ready to clamber out of the nest and resume her usual vigorous daily activities. Healer though she was, she was amazingly stubborn about getting back to Barzha and Hebakh whom, she maintained, needed her. After a lot of arguing, she suddenly felt faint and collapsed into another feverish slumber, worn out by the vocal exertion. Rikash cursed her soundly and went outside to sit on the roof, confident that she would be all right on her own now.

When he came back inside later in the evening, having flown for the first time in nearly three weeks and found it rather more tiring than he had expected, she was lying with her wings folded modestly over her starved body, staring contentedly at the ceiling. Her blue eyes rolled to watch his waddling progress across the floor, and she smirked a little at him. He scowled back, but he wasn't angry, really, and she wasn't truly mocking him.

"So you've finally decided to stay abed, I see." He muttered as he regained his post beside the nest. Zircah merely raised an eyebrow at him enigmatically. Rikash tossed his braided hair in annoyance. "Are you still feeling ill, is that all it is? Are you going to continue being stupid as soon as your head clears?"

Zircah's eyes narrowed slightly, but it was in amusement. She quirked her lips at him. He was relieved to see that she had regained some of her previous colouring, and the dry skin on her lips had peeled away to be replaced with soft, new pinkness. "There is no need for me to go to my queen any longer. I dreamed while I slept today, and she has sent a messenger. Micah will arrive very soon."

Rikash raised his eyebrow, wondering if she was still confused. "There is no Micah in Stone Tree Nation."

"Not before Ozorne's little stunt, no." She agreed easily. Rikash wasn't used to being so easily placated by that voice. He blinked green eyes at her in confusion, and then gave a tired shrug.

"Well, whatever suits you, love." Both their eyes widened at that, and Rikash ground his teeth, staving off a blush with admirable determination. "I've been around Sarra too long." He muttered in a forcedly offhand tone. Zircah gave a peal of high, tinkling laughter.

"I daresay you have," She said with a cruel flutter of her lashes. She would have had to be mindblind to miss how close Rikash's aura had become to her own during her weeks of sickness and dreaming. It constantly sought her out, meshing with her magicks, as though Rikash drew comfort from such a thing. The closeness gave her a sense of security, too, but Zircah was not sure whether to be angry or embarrassed about it, so she had decided to ignore her knowledge of it for now.

"But we'll have to leave very soon, and return to the flock." She added. Rikash nodded. Was that a tinge of regret she could detect in his expression?

"As soon as you're ready, we'll leave." He said in a level tone. She smiled at the strongly implied ending to that sentence – and not before. Her eyes fluttered closed and she hummed a tune lightly underneath her breath. To her very great surprise, Rikash started to hum along. When she stared at him, he shrugged and ducked his head.

"You hummed it in your sleep sometimes." He muttered, obviously embarrassed. Zircah stared at him hard for a few seconds, feeling his aura withdraw slightly.

"Moonsword, just how long did you spend sitting on that pole?"

He gave her a passive look. "I told you, Bladewing. Three weeks. I've been sitting here for three weeks, ever since I brought you here to the Green Lady to be healed. No doubt you think me a sentimental fool. But she thought that the contact would help you heal faster, and so I stayed." And he looked thoroughly humiliated about it. Zircah felt a sudden twinge of almost-pain in the region of her heart, and her face softened.

"I see. Well, then, Rikash, my thanks. Since you are familiar to me, your presence may well have helped me to heal faster. The Wild Mage draws her strength from those around her." Particularly those she cares for, she added in her head, but Rikash didn't need to know that. She closed her eyes and went back to humming softly. Rikash stared at her relaxed face intently with his dark green eyes for a few minutes, and then dropped his gaze to his clawed feet. He picked absently at the pole, which showed no mark despite nearly a month of harbouring an anxious Stormwing.

After nearly half an hour of companionable silence bar Zircah's humming, the female Stormwing's eyes opened and she started to struggle into a sitting position. Rikash glared at her more severely than she'd ever seen him glare before, and she desisted on reflex. She pouted as she sank back down onto the nest. "Micah will be here soon."

Rikash frowned and brought the tips of his wings together. A small burst of dark burgundy magic formed there and then dispersed suddenly, going from crystal to mist and then so finely spread as to be invisible. The spell could sense all conventionally magical beings within a five mile radius. Rikash grimaced at the sheer amount of them he could feel out there. But Zircah was right. A glimmer of Stormwing magic was making its way slowly in their general direction, and if the sudden veering was anything to go by, Micah had sensed Rikash's spell. The blond male scowled. He hated being detected. Still, at least the other Stormwing had something to go on, now.

Sarra opened the door with a frown. "Is something wrong?" She asked, referring to Rikash's spell. Zircah shook her head.

"We have a guest from the flock on the way. Rikash was just checking how far away he was." She said. Sarra smiled a little uneasily.

"All right, love," She said fondly as Rikash ground his teeth and blushed again. "But keep in mind we don't want a dozen Stormwings swooping down on the place! Rikash here is quite bad enough." He made an indignant sound as she shut the door and Zircah chuckled. The blond tossed his hair with a clatter of bones and sulked until the arrival of Micah.

The latter landed lightly upon the stall door with expertly folded wings. He had a shoulder length cascade of vibrant red hair and a long, straight nose. One eye was very close to lavender, the other a dark caramel just this side of toffee, a mismatch of colours that nearly made Zircah's eyes sore. His torso was covered in scars but thus far his face had escaped any lasting wounds, leaving it smooth and perfect. His eyes found Zircah almost immediately and he bowed his head briefly in reverence.

"Seer," He greeted her formally. "Queen Barzha sends her best wishes for your health and swift return. Lord Moonsword, she hopes you also are well, since she has not heard from you in so long." Rikash didn't so much as duck his head to accept the rebuke, but glared at the other male. Micah grinned, and his teeth looked rusted with blood. Zircah turned her head imperiously and raised an eyebrow at him.

"Get to the point. Our queen did not send you just to idle with pleasantries." She said peevishly. Micah nodded and began to relay Barzha's message hastily. It seemed that in their absence, the Stormwing flocks had been dealing with discord in their midst. Barzha had been the first of the monarchs to rally against Ozorne's abuse of their forces, but once she had made her feelings known, there had been several who had agreed to join her. Sadly, many Stormwings had disagreed with their own monarchs, and so a nation was no longer necessarily a line of alliance. Micah himself was not under either of the monarchs that had joined Barzha, but was with her of his own free will, having broken away from his own monarch, Queen Jachull. He shook his red hair out of his mismatched eyes and it floated in a fine red film directly back again. Zircah's eyes had unfocused as she thought hard. Rikash watched her out of the corner of his eyes until she spoke, then transferred his attention back to Micah.

"Very well, Micah." She said absently. "Tell Barzha that we will rejoin her as soon as I am well enough to fly. And tell her that if she finds Ozorne before we make it back, to save for me a feather." Some measure of amusement returned to her face at that and her eyes slid sideways to the feathers attached to the ends of braids in her hair. Rikash smiled bitterly.

"And a vertebra or some such bone for me." He added. Usually Rikash sounded jovial and mischievous when he spoke of the death of an opponent. This time, the ice in his tone made Micah stiffen. His eerie grin was uneasy.

"I'll make sure she knows it." He nodded, bowed subserviently to both of them and was off again. Zircah sighed and shifted uneasily. Rikash watched her coolly.

"I hate being cooped up." She complained after a while. Rikash shrugged and she felt suddenly very ungrateful. He'd spent so much time in here waiting for her to be healthy again and now here she was complaining when she'd only just awakened. He must have been bored out of his mind. Her ice blue eyes dipped uncertainly towards the floor. When she ventured to glance up again, Rikash's eyes were closed, chin resting on his chest. His dirty blond hair had spilled forward over his shoulders to trickle down his chest. Her eyes traced scars that she herself had placed on the dirt-smeared tan and she gave a sad sort of smile. How much Moonsword had changed. 

_She was flying through the black mist. It wrapped cold arms around her, traced icy fingers across her stomach, down the line of her back. Light infused the skies from the east, turning the mist slowly purple, then scarlet, then pink, then a radiant gold before fading into a more restful silver._

_And away to the east, the west, the north, the south... from everywhere and nowhere came the unmistakeable sound of the vase of the very important shattering upon the flagstones of the universe..._

Zircah woke gasping at the same moment as Rikash jerked to wakefulness with a battle screech almost unbecoming of a male Stormwing. For a split second that lasted for eternity, the range and power of Zircah's wild magic was extended. She felt everything, she knew everything, she was everything...

The Divine Realms rippled with the movement of a hundred thousand immortals who knew that their cage was very much lacking in ability. The barrier was broken. The barrier was gone.

The moment of omniscience passed. Zircah, whose back had arched, eyes widened with the force of the feeling, flopped limply back to lie still in the nest that Sarra had shaped for her with the feeling that she had lost everything worth knowing. She stared in surprise at a ceiling that had not previously held much interest for her and eventually managed to tear her shattered attention from the wooden beams and to the Stormwing perched on the edge of her nest.

Rikash looked as though he'd been the recipient of the full force of a tornado, directly into his mind. The usually dark and secretive green eyes were bright and glassy with shock, numb with disappointment. "The barrier..." He murmured softly.

Zircah began to struggle out of the nest, kicking and writhing her way to the floor and then to the door of the roost. Rikash stared at her movements blankly, unable to comprehend anything in this world for the moment. He'd known... he'd seen... he closed his eyes and strained his mental faculties, trying... hoping...

It was gone. He opened his eyes.

And so was Zircah. He spent a few seconds processing that before clawing his way into the air and taking off after her. "_Bladewing, get back here!_"

A/N: Short again. I really will try to get another chapter uploaded before the end of the holidays, though. And it'll actually contain... plot! Yay! Please review, if only to let me know how annoyed you are over my laziness.


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